Pathways to Risky Sex Among Adolescent Children of Alcoholic Parents

Children of alcoholic parents are at risk for a variety of negative developmental outcomes, including substance use and delinquency (Chassin et al., 1996; Donvan, 2004). However, the role of parental alcohol problems in the development of adolescent sexual risk behaviors has not been adequately addressed in the research literature. Sexual activity can be a normal and healthy part of development, yet it also carries the potential for serious, life altering consequences. Having sex while under the influence of alcohol or with multiple or poorly known partners are behaviors that place adolescents at risk for sexual assault and sexually transmitted infections (STI). This longitudinal study examined the role of parental alcohol problems and psychopathology in infancy on adolescent sexual risk behavior. Using a dynamic cascade model of development, we predicted that parental alcohol problems in infancy would be associated with sexual risk behavior in late adolescence via its effects on parenting behavior and parental monitoring across childhood and early adolescence.

Method: Participants were 227 families enrolled in a longitudinal study of the effects of paternal alcoholism on child development. Families were identified through New York State birth records when the child was 12 months old (116 girls) and were classified as a father alcohol disorder family (n=130) or a control family (n=97) at recruitment. Parents were predominantly White (94% mothers, 87% fathers). The prospective design included 9 assessments (child ages 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, kindergarten, and 4^th,6^th ,8^th, and 11^th/12^th grades). Measures at different ages included a combination of mother and father reports, observational assessments, and adolescent self-reports.

Results: Structural Equations Modeling results supported a conceptual model that included direct and indirect paths from parents’ alcohol problems in infancy to sexual risk behavior in late adolescence, χ2 (81) = 81.4, p = .47; RMSEA = .01 [.00-.04]; CFI = .99. There was support for a developmental cascade from parents’ alcohol problems in infancy to low maternal warmth/sensitivity at 24 months, which in turn, predicted low child self-regulation at 36 months, and parental monitoring in 6^th grade. Parental monitoring in 6^th grade was negatively associated with 8^th grade intentions to drink, delinquency, alcohol use and sexual activity. Of these risk behaviors, intentions to drink and sexual activity predicted 11/12^th grade risky sex. Adding a pathway from maternal depression at 12 months to 8^th grade sexual activity substantially improved model fit.

Conclusion:  Parental alcohol problems in infancy contribute to adolescent sexual risk behavior through their effects on parenting behavior, particularly parental monitoring.