Mothers’ and fathers’ prescription drug misuse in family contexts: implications for the adjustment of parents of children with and without autism

Abstract

Although prescription drug misuse is an identified risk factor for individuals’ outcomes, less is known about its occurrence in and implications for families. To address this limitation, we examined whether mothers’ and fathers’ prescription drug misuse is associated with the adjustment of parents, including those with a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those without. Mothers and fathers from families with a child with ASD (n = 178) and comparison families without a child with ASD (n = 174) completed surveys of past-year prescription drug misuse and their personal and relationship adjustment. In total, 7.7% (N = 27) of mothers and 8.2% (N = 29) of fathers reported recent prescription drug misuse. There was significant interdependence between mothers’ and fathers’ recent prescription drug misuse in families with a child with ASD but not in comparison families. Actor-partner interdependence modeling was used to examine associations between parents’ prescription drug misuse and their own and their partner’s adjustment, controlling for medical use of prescription drugs and demographic covariates. Across family diagnosis statuses, mothers’ prescription drug misuse predicted higher levels of their own alcohol problems, whereas fathers’ prescription drug misuse related only to mothers’ poorer sleep quality. Moreover, mothers’ prescription drug misuse was associated with higher levels of their own depression symptoms in ASD-status (but not in comparison) families. Understanding parents’ prescription drug misuse and its effects on family members is critical for informing future research and prevention and treatment strategies.