Previous research has shown family functioning to partially mediate relationships between parental problem drinking and child and adolescent outcomes (e.g., El-Sheikh & Buckhalt 2003). However, in the present study, family cohesion and adolescent-parent communication did not mediate the relationships between parental problem drinking and adolescent alcohol use, drug use, or binge drinking. These discrepant findings may be due to the differences between the present study sample and those used in previous research. For example, El-Sheikh and Buckhalt (2003) explored these relationships in a sample of children and early adolescents. Given that relationships between children and parents change considerably during adolescence (Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006), it is conceivable that family processes may differentially influence the relationship between parental problem drinking and substance use during early and later adolescence.
