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Australia: Teens Turn To Cannabis After Parental Separation

Medical News Today

Thursday 06 Apr 2006

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Splitting parents who shack up with new partners can unwittingly push
their children towards cannabis use.

University of Queensland research has shown a link between cannabis use
and marital changes after studying 3008 mothers and their children up to
age 21, between 2001 and 2004 in Brisbane.

"Our study suggests that exposure to three or more changes in maternal
marital status during childhood and early adolescence more than doubles
the risk of a child beginning to use cannabis," lead researcher Dr Reza
Hayatbakhsh said.

"More frequent changes in marital status predict greater risk and also
the earlier onset of use of cannabis."

Dr Hayatbakhsh, from UQ's School of Population Health, said almost half
of the young adults had used cannabis at some time, about a quarter
before the age of 15.

Children who experienced no change in their parents' marital partners
between ages five and 14 were less likely to report cannabis use.

The results are the latest from the ongoing Mater-UQ Study of Pregnancy
-- one of the world's longest running health studies.

The Mater Study was started at UQ in 1981 as a health and social study
of 7223 pregnant women.

Researchers continue to extract new information about social, emotional
and medical issues as the families grow.

Dr Hayatbakhsh, who is now studying for his PhD in epidemiology, said
mothers and children in the study were asked how often children used
cannabis and when they first began to use it.

The study results have been published in the International Journal of
Epidemiology last month.

The paper was co-written with UQ's Mater Study founder, Professor Jake
Najman and fellow UQ Population Health researchers Professor Konrad
Jamrozik, Dr Abdullah Mamun, Professor Gail Williams and Dr Rosa Alati.

Media inquiries: Dr Hayatbakhsh (+61 433 278 042, +61 7 3365 5456 or
email m.hayatbakhsh@sph.uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland at UQ
Communications (+61 7 3365 2619).

 

 

 

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