Consistent with our third hypothesis, the inverse relationship between parent-child communication and substance use was significant for tobacco and cannabis use but not for alcohol use. Our results focusing on parent-child communication and substance use outcomes are similar to those presented by Choquet and colleagues (2008) on parental control and adolescent substance use. Our findings suggest that the widely assumed protective association between parent-child communication and substance use might differ across substances such as smoking, alcohol, and marijuana use. Methodologically, these patterns highlight the advantage of examining multiple substance use outcomes in a single study as it provides an opportunity for comparisons across substances. Practically, these findings demonstrate the possible advantages of tailoring prevention and intervention efforts to address modifiable protective and risk factors that are associated with each particular kind of substance use.
