 tis education forms the common mind ; just as the twig is bent , the tree s inclined  , wrote alexander pope in 1734 .
this is likely one of the earliest poetic descriptions of a current topic of great interest to psychiatrists and research neuroscientists , namely the impact of early psychosocial factors on subsequent neuronal development and ultimate phenotypic presentation .
michael meaney and colleagues at mcgill university have demonstrated , in an elegant series of experiments in rats , the effect of early maternal grooming of rat pups on stress resilience via hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor expression and activation of nerve growth factor inducible - a .
offspring interactions can dramatically influence the child s behavior as they age.1 the focus of this study is to examine retrospectively the potential relationship between maternal personality characteristics , as measured by the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory ( mmpi ) , and drug dependence in their sons .
the hypothesis is that certain personality traits in mothers may help predict an at - risk population of their sons for the development of drug dependence .
this preliminary work is intended to explore a potential translational aspect of the work of meaney and others .
bucknall and robertson,2 have demonstrated the role of family in the etiology of drug abuse , with an even greater role in the maintenance of an individual s drug dependence .
andersson and eisemann,3 confirmed that a parental rearing behavior perceived both as rejecting and overprotective represents a link between dysfunctional parenting and the development of maladaptive psychosocial behaviors , like drug addiction .
drug addicts often come from families where there is frequently expressed ill will and hostility in the home .
they have weaker family ties than do those who do not take drugs . in families
in which there was contact with drugs , authority belonged to the mother to a greater degree than the father.4 handlarz et al5 studied drug addicts and their families and observed general characteristics common to all substance - dependent patients . among these were vulnerability of personality and ego weakness , absent father , narcissistic mother , disaggregation of the family , and pathological communication among family members .
graeven and schaef 6 reported the relationship with the opposite sex parent had the strongest impact on both male and female heroin users .
kaufamn7 studied the family structure of drug addicts and their families who were in residential treatment at the time of the study .
the most common familial pattern seen was that of a mother enmeshed with her addicted son .
the father reported feeling excluded by the dyad and reacted with disengagement , brutality , or increased consumption of alcohol .
this paper examines the personality of mothers and its relationship to severity of addiction of their sons .
it is a follow up to our previous work on childhood parenting styles of the substance - dependent patient.8
patients were diagnosed according to diagnostic statistical manual ( dsm iv).9 the control group consisted of 35 mothers of non - drug - dependent subjects .
mothers from both groups fulfilled the following inclusion criteria : 
 age between 40 and 60.not suffering substance use disorders or any other psychiatric disorders.not suffering significant medical disorder .
age between 40 and 60 . not suffering substance use disorders or any other psychiatric disorders .
all study subjects were informed they were participating in a volunteer study examining the relationship between a mother s personality and drug dependence in their children .
all study participants provided informed consent to a psychiatrist ( sa ) member of the study team .
both groups were administered the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory ( mmpi),10 which is a self - reported inventory developed in 1937 by starke hanthaway and charnley mckinley .
the items of each scale were selected for their ability to separate medical and psychiatric patients from normal control subjects .
we applied the arabic version prepared by melika et al.10 substance - dependent patients were assessed with the addiction severity index ( asi).11 the asi is a semi - structured interview designed to address 7 potential problem areas in substance use disorder patients : medical status , employment and support , drug use , alcohol use , legal status , family / social status , and psychiatric status . in 1 hour , a skilled interviewer can gather information on recent ( past 30 days ) and lifetime problems in all of the problem areas .
the asi provided an overview of problems related to substance , rather than focusing on any single area .
personality profiles of mothers of both groups were compared , and those of mothers of dependent patients were correlated to the 7 dimensions of the asi .
differences between quantitative variables for the addicts group and the control group were assessed using student s t - test .
the mmpi scales for mothers were classified into risk grades and differences between the study groups were assessed using pearson s chi - square test .
the association between the different study scales for mother and their offspring was assessed using correlation analysis .
the mean age of mothers of patients was 50 , while that of the control was 44.8 years .
they were age matched ( p = 0.07 ) there were significant differences between both groups on depression , hysteria , and paranoia scales of the mmpi .
depression scores were higher than 70 ( pathological ) in 8% of study group compared to only 1% of control group .
depression scores were in the normal range ( 45 to 50 ) in 5% of study group compared to 22% of the control group ( p = 0.003 ) .
scores on the hysteria scale were higher than 70 in 4% of study group compared to none of the control group .
negative scores for hysteria were seen in 15% of the study group , compared to 40% of the control group ( p = 0.02 ) .
paranoia scale scores were positive in 4% of the study group , compared to 1% of controls ( p = 0.03 ) .
no paranoia was detected in 10% of the study group , compared to 40% of controls .
no significant differences were reported on any of the other mmpi scales ( table 1 ) .
significant positive correlations were observed among mothers of substance - dependent patients on scores of depression , hypochondrias , and psychopathic deviance ( p = 0.003 , and p = 0.01 respectively ) .
a positive correlation was also detected between scores of hysteria , hypochondrias and psychopathic deviance ( p = 0.001 and p = 0.004 , respectively ) , and between paranoia and hypochondrias , depression , and psychopathic deviance ( p = 0.005 , p = 0.01 , and p = 0.01 , respectively ) .
pearson s correlation coefficient was calculated to measure the degree of association between mmpi scores and the asi .
results showed significant positive correlation between scores of hysteria and psychopathic deviance and asi legal status impairment ( p = 0.023 and p = 0.019 , respectively ) .
there was a significant negative correlation between social introversion and asi scores of drug / alcohol use , and family history ( p = 0.007 and p = 0.003 , respectively ) .
significant positive correlations were observed between scores of social status impairment and those of psychiatric and legal status impairment ( p= 0.005 and p = 0.04 , respectively ) .
the role of parenting in the development of drug abuse is a widely discussed topic .
this is best demonstrated by 2,590,000 google hits displayed when  the role of parenting on drug abuse  is searched .
behavioral scientists appreciated the highly complex nature of parental interactions , particularly maternal , and have demonstrated the role of nurturing in early life to the development of pathophysiologic functioning in later years of the offspring .
schweitzer and lawton12 and brook et al1 have independently reported mothers assessed as cold , indifferent , controlling , and intrusive were a major risk factor for the development of adolescent drug use .
similarly , andersson and eisemann3 reported that parenting perceived as rejecting was linked to maladaptive psychosocial behaviors , including drug abuse .
our previous study confirmed these findings8 and demonstrated that substance - abusing patients had lower maternal protection scores than non - drug - abusing controls .
this analysis of maternal mmpi scores in addicted offspring demonstrated a statistically significant correlation in the depression , hysteria and paranoia subscales .
these results have significant health , mental health , and public health and health policy implications .
the cost of drug abuse and addiction to the patient , their family , and society is enormous .
any primary interventions which might decrease pathologic drug use would be beneficial . these and other data strongly support the importance of early mother  child assessment and intervention when clinically indicated . although the role of family varies somewhat based on cultural norms , the effect of early maternal nurturing on neuronal development and subsequent phenotypic expression is not affected by socio - cultural variations .
it is far more effective to work with mothers than to treat drug addiction in their grown children .
future research needs to focus on identifying cost - effective and clinically effective early intervention strategies through prospective , longitudinal trials .
clinical translational research drawing on results from pre - clinical reports will also be valuable .
 drug addicts often come from dysfunctional families . 
 the prevailing view in the literature is that mothers of drug - dependent patients can be characterized by strong emotional bonds and overprotection . 
 studies suggest that maternal rejection could be a major risk factor of developing drug addiction . 
 this work is a continuation of our previous study of childhood parenting experiences of substance - dependent patients . 
 the aims were to compare the personality profile of mothers of substance - dependent patients and that of mothers of matched control subjects ; and to examine the relation between the personality of mothers of addicts , and severity of their offspring s addiction . 
 the study group consisted of 20 mothers of substance - dependent patients and a control group of 35 mothers of non - dependent subjects ; mothers of both groups were age matched . 
 patients were diagnosed according to dsm iv criteria . 
 personalities of mothers of both groups were assessed using the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory ( mmpi ) . 
 substance - dependent patients ( sons ) were administered the addiction severity index ( asi ) . 
 the mean scores of the mmpi scales were higher for mothers of dependent patients compared to mothers of non - dependent subjects . 
 scores on the depression , hysteria and paranoia scales were significantly higher for mothers of patients ( p = 0.03 , 0.02 , and 0.03 , respectively ) . 
 there was a significant positive correlation between scores of hysteria , and psychopathic deviance and the asi ( p = 0.03 and 0.01 , respectively ) . 
 there were significant negative correlations between scores of social introversion and the asi drug / alcohol use status ( p = 0.007 ) , and family history dimensions ( p = 0.003 ) . 
 mothers of substance - dependent patients showed disturbances in aspects of personalities that might be related to initiation of perpetuation of substance dependence . 