Does exposure to parental substance use disorders increase offspring risk for a substance use disorder? A longitudinal follow-up study into young adulthood

Objective: The main aim of this study was to examine the risk of exposure to parental substance use disorders (SUD; alcohol or drug abuse or dependence) on the risk for SUD in offspring with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) followed into young adult years. Methods: Subjects were derived from two longitudinal case-control studies of probands of both sexes, 6–17 years, with and without DSM-III-R ADHD and their parents. Probands were followed for ten years into young adulthood. Probands with a parental history of non-nicotine SUD were included in this analysis. Exposure to SUD was determined by active non-nicotine parental SUD while the parent was living with their child after birth. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate the risk of non-nicotine SUD in offspring. Results: 171 of the 404 probands reassessed at ten-year follow up had a family history of parental SUD. 102 probands were exposed to active parental SUD. The average age of our sample was 22.2 ± 3.5 years old. Exposure to maternal but not paternal SUD increased offspring risk for an alcohol use disorder in young adulthood independently of ADHD status (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.1, 6.9; p = 0.04). Conclusion: Exposure to maternal SUD increases the risk for an alcohol use disorder in offspring ten years later in young adult years irrespective of ADHD status.