Parental rejection, addiction and current fathering: A Comparative Study

Very little is known about drug-abusing men’s parental relationships in childhood and about the influence that these relationships could have on their drug use/abuse and on their current fathering. This study aims to examine how the maternal and/or paternal acceptance/rejection may have influenced drug-abusing men’s fathering and how it could have consequences on the drug-abuse itself. Generalized linear models, hierarchical logistic regression and correlations were used to show how 41 drug-abusing fathers residing in rehab clinics differ from 41 fathers with no history of drug-abuse as regards the relationships with their parents and with their children. Men who enrolled in the study completed a socio-demographic interview and a battery of 3 self-report measures selected to document their current fathering and the relationships with their parents. When the drug-abusing fathers were compared to fathers with no history of drug- use/abuse, appeared that: (i) drug-abusing men perceive their fathers as highly rejecting; (ii) the higher is the remembrance of paternal rejection the greater is the likelihood that the adult is classified in the addicted group; (iii) drug-abusing fathers actualize less parental control; (iv) in drug-abusing men group, maternal acceptance/rejection influences their current fathering. Parental rearing practices have important consequences on addicts’ drug abuse and on their current fathering.