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Pathways of Risk for Accelerated Heavy Alcohol Use Among Adolescent Children of Alcoholic Parents

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Abstract

The current study examined two questions. First, do internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior each mediate the relations between parent psychopathology (alcoholism, antisocial personality disorder, and affective disorder) and growth in adolescent heavy alcohol use? Second, are there gender differences in these mediated pathways? Using latent curve analyses, we examined these questions in a high-risk sample of 439 families (53% children of alcoholic parents; 47% female). Collapsing across gender, adolescent-reported externalizing behavior mediated both the relation between parent alcoholism and growth in heavy alcohol use and the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use. Parent-reported externalizing behavior only mediated the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use in males. No support was found for internalizing symptoms as a mediator of these relations. Avenues are suggested for further exploring and integrating information about different mediating processes accounting for children of alcoholics' risk for heavy alcohol use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3270

    Andrea M. Hussong

  2. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708

    Patrick J. Curran

  3. Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287

    Laurie Chassin

Authors
  1. Andrea M. Hussong
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  2. Patrick J. Curran
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  3. Laurie Chassin
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Hussong, A.M., Curran, P.J. & Chassin, L. Pathways of Risk for Accelerated Heavy Alcohol Use Among Adolescent Children of Alcoholic Parents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 26, 453–466 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022699701996

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