This paper is a longitudinal study of child gender differences in how family emotional climate influence growth in alcohol use from the pre- to mid-teens. The study included variables known to predict teenage alcohol use, including parent disapproval of drinking [4, 11], peer alcohol use [21], sensation seeking [22], family structure [23, 24], and socioeconomic status [25]. Building on cross-sectional research findings [14, 18], Hypothesis 1 was that there would be gender differences in the direct effects of family closeness, conflict and disapproval of alcohol use on subsequent growth in alcohol use, with girls showing stronger effects than for boys. Hypothesis 2 related to indirect effects. Given that girls may be more susceptible to alcohol-related peer influences than boys [18, 26], it was hypothesized that, compared to boys, girls would show a stronger mediation effect for peer alcohol use on the association of family emotional climate and subsequent growth in alcohol use.
