Exploring perceptions of genetic risk and the transmission of substance use disorders
Date
2024-08-02
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
A. Keller, E.A. Bosk, A. Mendez, B. Greenfield, C. Flynn, G. Everett DelJones, F. Julien, M. Michael. 2024. "Exploring perceptions of genetic risk and the transmission of substance use disorders." Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, Volume 19, Issue 1, pp.57-. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-024-00470-w
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders (SUDs) have been consistently shown to exhibit moderate intergenerational continuity (1-3). While much research has examined genetic and social influences on addiction, less attention has been paid to clients' and lay persons' perceptions of genetic influences on the heritability of SUD (4) and implications for treatment. METHODS: For this qualitative study, twenty-six structured Working Model of the Child Interviews (WMCI) were conducted with mothers receiving inpatient SUD treatment. These interviews were thematically analyzed for themes related to maternal perceptions around intergenerational transmission of substance use behaviours. RESULTS: Findings show that over half of the mothers in this sample were preoccupied with their children's risk factors for addictions. Among this group, 29% spontaneously expressed concerns about their children's genetic risk for addiction, 54% shared worries about their children's propensity for addiction without mentioning the word gene or genetic. Additionally, 37% had challenges in even discussing their children's future when prompted. These concerns mapped onto internal working models of attachment in unexpected ways, with parents who were coded with balanced working models being more likely to discuss intergenerational risk factors and parents with disengaged working models displaying difficulties in discussing their child's future. CONCLUSION: This research suggests that the dominant discourse around the brain-disease model of addictions, in its effort to reduce stigma and self-blame, may have unintended downstream consequences for parents' mental models about their children's risks for future addiction. Parents receiving SUD treatment, and the staff who deliver it, may benefit from psychoeducation about the intergenerational transmission of SUD as part of treatment.
Description
License
© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.