Parents who use cannabis are more likely to discipline their children, a study of 3,023 people in California found.
A study using data collected in 2009 outlined how parents who had used cannabis in the previous year were more likely to use both non-violent and violent techniques on their children.
The data was recently published in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions under the title “Types of Substance Use and Punitive Parenting: A Preliminary Exploration”.
It surveyed random parents of children 12 years old or younger in 50 cities throughout the US state of California and covered non-violent discipline techniques such as loss of privileges as well as violent techniques.
Parents who used alcohol and drugs showed an increase in non-violent and violent discipline behaviours, and parents who reported using cannabis within the last year had the greatest frequency of physical abuse behaviours.
However, parents who reported lifetime cannabis use showed similar physical abuse rates as non-drug users and non-drinkers, according to the study.
Lifetime cannabis use vs past-year use
The study states that the findings indicate “lifetime marijuana use was associated with a lower frequency of physical abuse while past-year marijuana use was associated with a higher frequency of physical abuse”.
“When evaluated in relation to comorbid alcohol use, we observe that the highest average frequencies were attributed to categories for past-year drinker, past-year marijuana users, whereas the lowest average frequencies were attributed to both non-drinker, no drug use, and lifetime marijuana users.
“Over 92% of past-year marijuana users also reported comorbid past-year alcohol use, which may be driving high physical abuse frequencies observed for past-year marijuana use.”
