How does family disorganization influence children's drug use? A review

It is well known that various aspects of family functioning can influence children's drug use, both by promoting resilience and by increasing the risk of use. This review examines studies published in the last 30 years about the influence of family disorganization on children's drug use. Based on the results, we consider that disorganised families (charactirezed by parents' mental illness, parents' substance use and/or non-intact families) are more likely to have children who are drug users, both legal and illegal. Finally, we stress the need to improve the conceptualization of family disorganization and its assessment, and point out other methodological limitations found in the empirical studies reviewed.