Parental Influences on Adolescent Marijuana Use and the Baby Boom Generation

CHAPTER 4: SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PARENT-CHILD DYADS

Nine demographic characteristics of parents and children were examined: age, sex, ethnicity, education, including child school drop out status, marital status, household income, region of the country and population density. Most findings discussed below are for the aggregated 1979-1996 dyads. In addition, characteristics of respondents included in dyads and of those interviewed as single respondents within a household are presented.

4.1 Age

The average age of the children was 15.1 years (sd= 2.6). The majority (88.6%) were 12 to 17 years old: 47.3% were 12-14 years old, 41.3% were 15-17 years old, and 11.4% were 18-25 years old (Table 4.1). The detailed distribution of children's ages is presented in Appendix Table A.4.1. Except for survey years prior to 1991, the age distributions were fairly consistent across the waves of dyadic data (Table 4.1 and Appendix Table A.4.1). From 1991 through 1996, children aged 12-17 years old comprised between 81.8% and 94.2% of the child samples. Parents were on average 41.5 years old (sd= 7.2, range 24-80 years), with fathers about 3 years older than mothers ( = 43.1, sd= 8.6 and = 40.4, sd= 6.2, respectively, p<.001) (Table 4.2). The average ages of parents increased from 39.0 years (sd= 6.2, range= 24-73 years), when their children were 12-14 years old, to 42.9 years (sd= 7.0, range= 27-80 years), when their children were aged 15-17 years old, and to 47.1 years (sd= 7.5, range= 31-74 years), when their children were 18-25 years old.

The average difference in age between parents and children was 26.4 (sd= 6.5) years.

4.2 Sex

The children were evenly distributed between boys and girls. By contrast, there were fewer father-child (40.4%) than mother-child pairs (59.6%), with 22.1% father-son, 18.3% father-daughter, 28.8% mother-son and 30.7% mother-daughter pairs in the aggregated surveys (Table 3.1). There were slightly more same-sex (52.8%) than cross-sex (47.2%) pairs. The distribution of males and females across the year-specific samples was fairly consistent for both children and parents (Table 4.1 and 4.2). Father-child pairs are underrepresented in the NHSDA. In the U.S. in 1990 and 1993, the ratios of the number of adolescents 12-17 years old living in households with a father over those living with a mother were .82 and .81, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 1989-1990; 1993) compared with a ratio of .45 for father-child over mother-child dyads in the 1979-1996 NHSDA. The uneven representation of mothers and fathers in the NHSDA sample reflects the lower participation of males than females in household surveys, including the NHSDA (Section 4.7), and probably introduces an unknown bias in the parental sample.

4.3 Ethnicity

In the total aggregate sample, the ethnic composition was 63.4% white, 20.5% African-American, 14.0% Hispanic and 2.1% other⁴ (Table 4.2). However, the ethnic distribution fluctuated from year to year, sometimes dramatically. In 1988 and 1990, the proportions white were extremely low (3.9% and 10.8%, respectively); in 1993 there were many more whites (72.1%) than in 1991 (53.9%) and in 1996 (50.7%).

This year-to-year fluctuation introduces some additional unspecified bias in the sample.

4.4 Education

The majority of the youth sample consisted of 12-17 year old adolescents enrolled in secondary school (84.6%); 5.9% had a high school degree, 5.3% had dropped out of high school, 3.5% had attended some college and .6% had a college degree (Table 4.1). Among the parents, 23.7% did not have a high school degree, 35.7% had a high school degree, 21.6% had attended college, and 19.1% had a college degree or higher education (Table 4.2).

4.5 Marital Status

Seventy-eight percent of the parents were married; 14.0% were divorced or separated (Table 4.2). Almost all (99.1%) the children were unmarried (Table 4.1).

4.6 Household Income

In the aggregate 1990-1996 sample, the annual household income was less than $9,000 in 8.1% of cases, $9,000-$19,999 in 17.4%, $20,000-$39,999 in 32.3%, $40,000-$74,999 in 31.4%, and more than $75,000 in 10.8% of cases (Table 4.2).

4.7 Dyad and Non-Dyad Respondents Compared

To assess the impact of non-systematic sampling of multiple household respondents, we compared the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals interviewed as parts of dyads and those interviewed as singletons. The comparison group of non-dyadic adults was restricted to parents. An exact match according to adolescent ages could not be implemented in two early surveys (1979 and 1982) because parents were only asked about 12-17 year old children as a group. Given the small representation of young adults 18-25 in the child sample, the comparison of dyads and non-dyads was done separately for respondents 12-17 and 18-25 years old.

Dyadic and non-dyadic respondents differed on every characteristic, except child sex (Table 4.3). The differences were relatively small but highly significant because of the large sample sizes. In particular there were more African-Americans and fewer whites in dyads than in non-dyads (p<.001). Among the children, a lower percentage was married among dyads than non-dyads, especially among those 18 to 25 years old. A lower percentage of adolescents had dropped out of school whereas a lower percentage of 18 to 25 year olds were college graduates in the dyads than the non-dyads (Table 4.4).

Parents and children in dyads are not a representative subsample of parents and children interviewed in the NHSDA.

Children's		1979-1996		1979		1982		1988		1990		1991		1992		1993		1994A		1994B		1995		1996
Characteristics		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%
Mean age in years (standard deviation)		15.1 (2.6)		14.4 (1.7)		14.3 (1.7)		14.6 (1.7)		14.3 (1.6)		15.4 (3.0)		15.5 (3.0)		14.7 (2.2)		15.2 (2.5)		15.4 (2.9)		15.1 (2.5)		15.4 (2.9)
Child/Parent Age
12-14/24-73 years		47.3		50.9		52.8		51.3		58.1		43.9		46.4		49.9		45.1		47.4		44.5		44.8
15-17/27-80 years		41.3		49.1		47.2		48.4		41.9		40.0		35.4		44.3		42.0		33.9		48.1		37.5
18-25/31-74 years		11.4		-		-		.3		-		16.1		18.4		5.6		13.0		18.8		7.4		17.6
Child Sex
Male		50.9		52.3		52.3		57.7		48.6		49.4		50.1		48.0		58.3		53.3		52.6		50.0
Female		49.1		47.7		47.7		42.3		51.4		50.6		49.9		52.0		41.7		46.7		47.4		50.0
Child Education
High school dropout		5.3		1.7		2.9		1.6		3.4		6.0		6.7		3.9		11.5		6.4		7.3		6.1
High school graduate		5.9		1.1		2.3		1.5		1.5		7.8		8.1		5.2		6.3		7.9		5.4		8.0
Some college		3.5		.8		-		.5		-		3.2		6.1		1.8		2.1		6.4		1.3		5.5
College graduate		.6		-		-		-		-		.9		1.4		.2		-		.3		.1		1.1
In secondary school:12-17 years		84.6		96.4		94.8		96.4		95.1		82.1		77.7		88.8		80.0		79		85.9		79.2
Child Marital Status
Married		.5		-		-		-		-		1.2		.5		.1		1.2		1.1		.3		.9
Divorced/separated		.4		-		-		-		-		1.0		.2		.1		.9		.6		.8		.3
Widowed		0		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		.1		-
Never married		41.4		-		-		47.4		41.9		54.0		52.9		49.8		52.8		51.0		54.4		53.9
Not ascertained3		57.8		100.0		100.0		52.6		58.1		43.8		46.4		50.0		45.1		47.4		44.5		44.8
Total N		9,463		693		371		289		185		1,646		1,869		1,213		229		880		949		1,139

¹Weighted estimates, unweighted N's.
²In 1979, 1982, 1988 and 1990, children aged 12-17 were selected. In all other years, children aged 12-25 were selected.
³Question not asked for respondents aged 12-17 in 1979 and 1982, and aged 12-14 in 1988-1996.
Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Parents'		1979-1996		1979		1982		1988		1990		1991		1992		1993		1994A		1994B		1995		1996
Characteristics		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%		%
Mean age in years (standard deviation)		41.5 (7.2)		41.6 (7.3)		41.2 (7.7)		39.6 (7.0)		40.1 (7.7)		41.6 (7.9)		41.5 (7.0)		41.1 (6.2)		40.3 (5.3)		41.7 (6.9)		41.5 (7.3)		41.9 (7.2)
Parent Sex
Male		40.4		44.9		42.4		28.3		34.7		39.4		38.1		41.2		39.8		38.8		40.9		40.7
Female		59.6		55.1		57.6		71.7		65.3		60.6		61.9		59.0		60.2		61.2		59.1		59.3
Parent Education
Less than high school		23.7		28.5		22.2		43.2		47.4		25.0		26.1		14.4		14.2		20.2		20.4		24.6
High school graduate		35.7		34.8		38.8		37.6		34.2		40.0		34.8		32.6		37.8		33.7		36.1		36.3
Some college		21.6		21.7		21.7		12.4		10.2		19.0		20.7		25.3		26.4		25.1		20.7		20.7
College graduate		19.1		15.0		17.3		6.8		8.2		15.9		18.5		27.7		21.5		21.0		22.9		18.3
Parent Marital Status
Married		77.8		86.0		66.9		61.4		77.8		74.0		76.5		82.1		79.5		77.5		76.6		75.4
Divorced/separated		14.0		9.7		1.3		26.0		14.4		17.9		16.0		13.4		16.9		15.1		15.3		14.8
Widowed		4.1		2.8		27.4		3.7		1.2		3.3		3.4		1.2		.8		2.7		2.0		3.4
Never married		4.2		1.5		4.4		8.9		6.6		4.8		4.1		3.3		2.8		4.8		6.1		6.4
Household Income3
$0-$8,999		8.1		-		-		-		11.7		8.2		9.8		7.2		8.6		6.3		5.7		7.9
$9,000-$19,999		17.4		-		-		-		26.1		19.3		19.6		12.2		16.9		15.0		18.9		16.1
$20,000-$39,999		32.3		-		-		-		37.9		35.6		32.2		31.2		27.8		29.9		30.4		33.5
$40,000-$74,999		31.4		-		-		-		19.7		28.8		29.4		35.4		30.3		36.0		33.9		30.1
$75,000+		10.8		-		-		-		4.7		8.0		9.0		13.9		16.5		12.8		11.1		12.4
Parent Ethnicity
White		63.4		78.1		74.7		3.9		10.8		53.9		60.1		72.1		69.0		65.3		61.7		50.7
African-American		20.5		13.0		14.8		53.1		25.7		23.3		22.4		15.8		16.5		20.3		22.2		28.2
Hispanic		14.0		6.8		8.8		43.0		63.5		20.4		14.4		9.3		13.4		12.8		14.9		20.2
Other		2.1		2.1		1.7		-		-		2.4		3.1		2.8		1.1		1.5		1.2		.9
Region of Country
West		15.1		14.6		16.6		24.6		34.0		15.7		15.1		14.2		8.3		13.0		15.4		16.7
South		37.4		34.4		32.1		45.8		27.8		47.5		38.4		26.5		33.4		34.4		39.6		42.5
North Central		27.3		24.9		28.3		16.7		22.7