A substantial body of research has established that parental substance use affects their children's risk for alcohol and drug use (Chassin, Curran, Hussong, & Colder, 1996; Epstein, Williams, & Botvin, 2002). Children of parents who abuse alcohol are at high risk for early alcohol initiation (Hill, Shen, Lowers, & Locke, 2000) and greater alcohol consumption (Chassin & Barrera, 1993). Research also indicates a strong association between parental drug use and the development of drug use among their adolescents (Brook et al., 2001; Miller, Alberts, Hecht, Trost, & Krizek, 2009).
