WOMEN WHO SMOKE CRACK AND THEIR FAMILY SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS

Abstract

Toward the goal of understanding African American women who smoke crack cocaine and the family context in which their drug use occurs, this descriptive investigation aimed to characterize the relationship between the participants' substance abuse problems and that of their family members. We used previously collected data from interviews of 208 women and examined whether participants' substance abuse would closely parallel that of their family members, particularly male family members. Indeed, participants' drug use was highly correlated with partners' substance use ( X 2 = 12.6; p h .001), father's substance use ( X 2 = 11.9; p h .001), brothers' drug use ( X 2 = 6.2; p h .05), and uncles' alcohol and drug abuse ( X 2 = 5.3; p h .05). Among female family members, only aunts' drug and alcohol abuse ( X 2 = 5.3; p h .05) was significantly correlated with that of the participants. These findings clearly support the hypothesis that the participants' substance use patterns are significantly correlated with that of male family members.