Pubdate: Tue, 31 August 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Edward Walsh, Washington Post Staff Writer
Related: http://www.csdp.org/ads/casa.htm

DRUG USE TIED TO FATHER'S ROLE

Survey Finds Lack Of Parental Involvement Is Risk Factor

American teenagers generally have a better relationship with their
mothers than their fathers--a relative lack of paternal involvement
that is key in determining whether teenagers begin to use drugs,
according to a new national survey that was released yesterday.

The survey, which was commissioned by the National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, found that
teenagers in two-parent households who have only a poor or fair
relationship with their fathers are at about 60 percent more risk of
abusing drugs than a teenager living with a single mother who has an
excellent relationship with the youth.

According to the survey, 71 percent of teenagers described their
relationship with their mothers as excellent or very good, but only 58
percent said they have such a relationship with their fathers. By
large margins, they also said it was easier to talk to their mother
than their father about drugs, and that they were more likely to rely
solely on their mother than their father in making important decisions.

Forty-five percent of the teenagers said their mother was the more
demanding parent when it came to school grades, homework and personal
behavior, compared with 39 percent who said the father was the more
demanding, the survey found.

"Many dads are AWOL in the battle against substance abuse and this
greatly increases the risk that their children will smoke, drink and
use illegal drugs," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of CASA.

The survey, conducted by pollster Frank Luntz, was based on telephone
interviews in May and June with 2,000 young people ages 12 to 17 and
1,000 parents. Each teenager was assigned a drug abuse risk factor
based on their answers to such questions as whether they have friends
who drink or use illegal drugs and how long it would take for them to
buy marijuana. The risk factors were then correlated with other data
in the survey such as relationships with parents.

"It is really stunning the extent to which we can predict the risk
score if we know about the teen's home life," said Steven Wagner,
president of QEV Analytics, a public opinion research firm that
analyzed the data. "The quality of the relationship with both parents
is very important to risk. We focused on fathers because a bad
relationship with fathers is so much more common than with mothers. If
mothers did the same thing it would be equally harmful, but it's much
rarer for moms to be absent or distant."

At a news conference to announce the survey results, Califano, who was
secretary of health, education and welfare in the Carter
administration, said that teenagers in two-parent families who have
good relationships with both parents are at the least risk of having
drug abuse problems. But he said absent fathers or those who are not
engaged in the lives of their teenage children "is a really serious
problem and one that we can correct."

"We can't leave it up to mom," he added. "She's doing a terrific job,
but she can't do it alone."

According to the survey, the risk of substance abuse by a student who
attends a school where drugs are available is twice that of students
who attend drug-free schools. Older teenagers are less likely than
younger teenagers to report drug activity at their schools--82 percent
of 12-year-olds said they would report a drug dealer to school
officials, but only 37 percent of 17-year-olds said they would do the
same.

The survey, the fifth conducted by CASA, detected some encouraging
trends, Califano said. It showed that 60 percent of teenagers do not
expect to use a drug in the future, compared with 51 percent last
year; 44 percent said they attend a drug-free school, up from 31
percent in 1998, and 40 percent said the drug situation at their
school is getting worse, compared with 55 percent in 1998.

- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake