ABSTRACT
Habitual drug abuse in adolescence is of particular concern to clinical psychologists because it may have a negative long-term effect on the adolescents and an intergenerational effect on their children. For the adolescent, habitual drug abuse may negatively affect mental and physical health; criminal status; educational status; the establishment of autonomy from the family of origin; and the development of long-term intimate relationships (Newcomb and Bentler, 1988). The children of habitual teenage drug abusers may suffer from drug-related problems such as foetal alcohol syndrome, intrauterine addiction or HIV infection (Pagliaro and Pagliaro, 1996).
