The literature review suggested that the following nine family factors influenced drug use: parental absence, discipline, scapegoating, hypocritical morality, a communication gap between the parent and the child, parental divorce, conflicts between the parents, family breakup, and the use of "psychological crutches" such as drug abuse and denial to cope with stress. The interviews distinguished between drug use and drug abuse and found that drug users were less likely to come from families where there was a communication gap and more likely to come from families that used democratic disciplinary techniques. In contrast, drug abusers came from families where there was a communication gap and either laissez faire or authoritarian discipline. Drug abusers also came from families where the person whom they defined as most powerful tended to use "psychological crutches" to cope with stress. Table and 85 references (Author abstract modified)