title: Testing whether and when parent alcoholism uniquely affects various forms of adolescent substance use.
abstract: The current study examined the distal, proximal, and time-varying effects of parents' alcohol-related consequences on adolescents' substance use. Previous studies show that having a parent with a lifetime diagnosis of alcoholism is a clear risk factor for adolescents' own substance use. Less clear is whether the timing of a parent's alcohol-related consequences differentially predicts the adolescent's own substance involvement. Using a multilevel modeling approach, we tested whether adolescents showed elevated rates of alcohol, heavy alcohol, marijuana and other illegal drug use (a) at the same time that parents showed alcohol-related consequences (time-varying effects), (b) if parents showed greater alcohol-related consequences during the child's adolescence (proximal effects), and (c) if parents had a lifetime diagnosis of alcoholism that predated the child's adolescence (distal effects). We tested these effects in a high-risk sample of 451 adolescents assessed over three waves beginning at ages 11-15 from 1988 to 1991 (53 % male, 71 % non-Hispanic Caucasian, 54 % children of alcoholic parents and 46 % matched controls). Strong and consistent distal effects of parent alcoholism on adolescent's substance use were found, though no additional risk was associated with proximal effects. Limited time-varying effects were also found. The importance of differentiating the timing effects of parent alcoholism in identifying underlying mechanisms of risk for adolescent substance use is discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, CB#3270 Davie Hall, UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA. hussong@unc.edu
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hussong
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chassin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012923:Social Class; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*