Deviance among the children of heroin addicts in treatment: Impact of parents and peers

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Abstract
Criminological theories and research have stressed the importance of family factors in understanding delinquency and substance use. Much work has documented the elevated risk of various problem behaviors faced by the children of drug users, as well as the factors that mediate their risk. This study examined a unique sample of high‐risk children whose parents were receiving methadone treatment for opiate addiction. A model was developed and tested to estimate the impact of positive family management practices, maternal attachment, and deviant peers on delinquency, initiation of substance use, and misbehavior involving school and police sanctions. Positive family management practices showed little effect on reducing problem behaviors among these children of methadone clients, unlike in the general population. Similarly, the effect of maternal attachment was relatively weak and varied with age of the child.