Does parents’ age at first birth moderate intergenerational continuity in early-onset cannabis use?

Objective: The aims of this brief report were to examine the extent to which early onset of cannabis use by parents and their children, and intergenerational continuity in early-onset cannabis use by parents and children, differ as a function of parent age at birth of first child. Method: A total of 795 parent?child dyads (57% male parents and 49% male children) were compiled from three intergenerational studies: Oregon Youth Study?Three Generational Study (OYS?3GS), Rochester Youth Development Study and Rochester Intergenerational Study (RYDS?RIGS), and Seattle Social Development Project?The Intergenerational Project (SSDP?TIP). Parents and children identified as non-Hispanic White (29% and 22%, respectively), Black (55% and 47%), and Hispanic (8% and 11%). Early-onset cannabis use was defined as initiation at or before age 15. Time-varying effect models were fit to examine the research questions. Results: Among parents, earlier initiation of cannabis use was associated with an earlier entry into parenthood. Moreover, parents? later age at first birth was predictive of a lower prevalence of early-onset cannabis use among their children. Last, regarding intergenerational continuity, parental early onset of cannabis use increased the likelihood of child early-onset use, but only among older parents (i.e., later age at first birth). Conclusions: We provide a nuanced examination of the associations between parental and child early-onset cannabis use as a function of parents? age at first birth and describe a novel approach to incorporating parent’s age at first birth into models of intergenerational continuity.