Autonomy/Relatedness in Families of Drug Abusing Teens

Fordham University, Bronx NY

Investigators

Abstract

The ultimate objective of the proposed study is to investigate the developmentally salient process of parent-adolescent autonomous- relatedness functioning in inner city, ethnic minority families of adolescents exhibiting serious problem behaviors. Prevalence rates of drug abuse and externalizing behaviors are high among adolescents living in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods. Despite the wealth of research highlighting dysfunctional family interaction patterns in clinical and non- clinical families of adolescent drug abusers, very little is known about ethnic minority families of adolescent drug abusers. This project will help to fill this void by linking developmentally salient family processes (i.e., parent-adolescent outcomes. This study involves coding videotaped parent-adolescent interaction tasks completed at the pre-treatment assessment of a randomized clinical trial for adolescent drug abuse. The sample for this study is comprised of primarily African American, low- income families. 80 parent-adolescent interactions will be coded based on an autonomy and relatedness coding system. Autonomous-relatedness functioning will be coded based on an autonomy and relatedness coding system. Autonomous-relatedness functioning will be linked to critical adolescent outcomes (adolescents' drug use, adolescents' externalizing behaviors, and adolescents' internalizing behaviors) as well as key empirically based moderators of outcomes (adolescents' self-esteem, parental acceptance-involvement, family cohesion, and family conflict.. Anova analyses will be used to investigate whether dyadic parent- adolescent autonomous-relatedness functioning is associated with indices of adolescent symptomatology and other family functioning. Then, regression analyses will be used to examine whether the adolescent's individual functioning. The finding swill provide valuable information to the field of developmental psychopathology and have important implications for the treatment community.