Consistent with expectations, our bivariate correlations analyses indicated that both fathers’ and mothers’ ADS were correlated with higher likelihood of adolescent risky drinking and more conduct problems. However, results from our multivariate SEM model indicated that neither fathers’ nor mothers’ ADS were directly associated with these adolescent outcomes. These findings suggest that parental ADS may influence adolescent outcomes indirectly rather than directly, reiterating the importance of understanding the mediating pathways through which parental ADS exert an effect on adolescent adjustment. Findings from this study suggest parenting behaviors as an important mechanism through which fathers’ ADS play a role in adolescents’ risky drinking and conduct problems. Although our findings indicate no indirect effect of mothers’ ADS on these adolescent outcomes via parenting behaviors, we note the possibility that mothers’ ADS may influence adolescent outcomes via other mechanisms such as increased adolescents’ environmental stress and negative affect (Chassin et al., 1993) and more family conflict (Loukas et al., 2001). It is also likely that mothers’ ADS influence other aspects of parenting such as monitoring, discipline, or negative parenting practices that were not
