Chunk #5 — The role of romantic relationship status in pathways of risk for emerging adult alcohol use — Parental Alcohol Problems, Romantic Relationship Status, and Alcohol Use
Parental alcohol use disorder confers environmental and genetic risk for alcohol problems in offspring (Kendler et al., 2015b) and also puts individuals at risk for more problematic and less stable and satisfying romantic relationships (Kearns-Bodkin & Leonard, 2008; Larson, Taggart-Reedy, & Wilson, 2001). Young adult children with a parental history of alcohol use disorder express more negative views about marriage and a desire to wait longer to commit (Larson & Thayne, 1999), but also tend to marry earlier than those without a parental history of alcohol use disorder (Dawson, Grant, & Harford, 1992). Furthermore, parental alcohol use disorder is also associated with insecure romantic attachment (Cash, Grant, Kelley, Miles, & Santos, 2004; Jackson, Parra, Sher, & Vungkhanching, 2004). Attachment avoidance, where individuals minimize their needs for emotional intimacy out of concerns of abandonment, has previously been linked to “hooking up” (i.e., sexual interactions outside of a committed relationship; Epstein, Calzo, Smiler, & Ward, 2009) (Fielder, Walsh, Carey, & Carey, 2013). In short, emerging adults with a parental history of alcohol use disorder appear to have mixed feelings and behaviors toward
