facilitated by fathers by encouraging children to take risks and overcome obstacles may be an important context for developing socioemotional skills and practicing self-regulatory behaviors (Grossmann et al., 2008; Majdandzic et al., 2014; Meuwissen & Englund, 2016). For example, father’s (but not mother’s) high involvement in parenting was related to children’s low levels of externalizing behaviors (Gryczkowski et al., 2010). Similarly, father– (not mother–) adolescent relationships and fathers’ strictness compared to mothers’ strictness were strong predictors for children’s delinquent and aggressive behaviors (Yoder et al., 2016). In our study, in the overall sample, closeness with father (not mother) was associated with larger P3 and higher FT, suggesting that fathers may uniquely contribute to the efficient development of self-regulation and executive functioning that are crucial in curbing alcohol problems. This finding exclusive to closeness with father is further bolstered by the tenets of the Activation Relationship Theory (ART). ART focuses primarily on both parental stimulation of risk-taking and parental control during child exploration. It predicts the existence of sex differences such that mother–child relationships are considered as supportive attachment relationships, whereas father–child relationships are considered as activation relationships. That is, mothers tend to engage more in caretaking of children, whereas fathers’
