Father - Distance and Drug Abuse in Young Men.

摘要

Previous clinical work has indicated that addicted men (both alcoholic and heroin dependent) have a distant or negative relationship to their father. To test this hypothesis and to attempt to quantify the concept of 'father-distance,' a 16-item questionnaire regarding a young man's relationship to his father was given to three groups: a heroin- and alcohol-addicted group; a general psychiatric outpatient group; and a control group. The results indicated that only the addicted group had significant elevations of the father-distance score. Their greater father-distance than the psychiatric outpatient group indicates that the behavior of drug abuse may be different from other emotional problems of young men and is more specifically associated with a disturbed father-son relationship. Delinquent behavior and conduct disorders have long been thought to be related to a disturbed father-son relationship and these data suggest that drug abuse in young men should often be considered and treated as a disorder of behavior. (Author)