Although some research suggests that paternal drinking is more harmful than maternal drinking (Loukas et al., 2001; Ohannessian, 2013), we found that for girls, only maternal problem drinking predicted adverse adolescent outcomes. These findings are similar to other research showing greater effects of parental drinking in same-sex adolescent-parent dyads (Christensen & Bilenberg, 2000). These findings also are supported by social learning theory which posits that children imitate their same sex-parent (Bussey & Bandura, 1984). However, for boys, both maternal and paternal problem drinking predicted alcohol use. Perhaps a family systems approach (Cox & Paley, 1997), which suggests that when one family member has a problem, individual members and the family as a unit are affected, better explains these findings. Maternal problem drinking may influence both girls and boys because the mother is typically the primary caregiver in most U.S. homes (McGraw & Walker, 2004). As such, adolescents spend more time with their mother than their father (Bianchi, 2006) and therefore, may be more likely to be adversely affected by their mother's problem drinking.
