While the nature of the data available for this study precludes detailed testing of hypotheses regarding mechanism, prior research provides some context. For example, one study (33) found that parental AUD and antisocial behavior were related to higher levels of child EB at ages 6–8, and that these effects were mediated through family conflict, parent-child conflict, and parental depression. The effects of parent-child conflict on children’s EB and parental negativity – above and beyond genetic loading for EB – have been confirmed in genetically informative samples (34, 35). Other potential mediating factors include low parental monitoring, harsh parenting, and limited communication about alcohol use (36). In addition, sustained exposure to a stressor (e.g., abuse) has been shown to impact neurodevelopment (37), which could impact AUD risk. Though not all the studies above examined young adult AUD as the outcome, the strong relationship between early EB and later AUD suggests that such findings are potentially relevant to the current study.
