Influence of parental socialization on adolescent alcohol misuse

The present study examined the influence of parental socialization on adolescent alcohol misuse. The purpose of the study was to examine two models of parental socialization that included dimensions of parental demandingness and responsiveness and alcohol-specific parental practices: alcohol monitoring, negative and permissive alcohol messages and alcohol contingency messages. More specifically, the study examined the extent to which parental demandingness and responsiveness each moderated the relationships between alcohol-specific parental practices and adolescent alcohol misuse and the extent to which alcohol-specific parental practices mediated the relationships between parental demandingness and responsiveness and adolescent alcohol misuse in separate samples of White and Black adolescents. In addition, the study examined how the pattern of relationships differed by race group.;The study used three waves of data from The Context of Adolescent Substance Use Study (Context Study), which was implemented from 2002 to 2004 in three counties in North Carolina. The final analysis samples included 723 White and 379 Black adolescents and their parents. Parental socialization included parent-reported demandingness, responsiveness, alcohol-specific parental practices and parental alcohol use. Adolescent alcohol misuse was based on adolescent-reported alcohol behaviors and related social problems. Measurement equivalence was tested for White and Black race groups prior to testing the study hypotheses in the separate White and Black samples. Logistic regression procedures were used to test the moderation model and path analysis was used to test the mediation model.;Overall, neither a moderation nor mediation model was supported as a parental socialization process that predicted adolescent alcohol misuse. There were, however, clear links between one or both parenting style dimensions and each alcohol-specific parental practice for both White and Black adolescents, with the exception of alcohol monitoring for White adolescents. In addition, alcohol contingency messages for White adolescents and permissive alcohol messages for Black adolescents significantly predicted adolescent alcohol misuse. Parental alcohol use also was an important influence on adolescent alcohol misuse for both White and Black adolescents. Future research should continue to explore the relationships between parenting style dimensions, alcohol-specific parental practices and parental alcohol use to further clarify the role of parental alcohol use in family alcohol socialization.