ABSTRACT
Two family process variables posited to mediate the relationship between family structure and substance use were examined. Subjects were 124 middle school and high school volunteers from two types of family structure. Forty-one percent were from mother-only families while the rest were from two-biological-parent families. They were interviewed about their use of different substances, such as cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, and completed an emotional detachment scale (Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986) and a parental limit-setting scale. No relationship was found between family structure and either emotional detachment from parents or parental limit setting. However, emotional detachment was predictive of adolescents’ experimenting with substances beyond the effects of sociodemographic variables. Family structure also was predictive of experimentation even when sociodemographic and family process measures were controlled.
