Grounded in family systems theory (Cox & Paley, 2003), the present study examined the unique roles and spillover and crossover effects of fathers’ and mothers’ ADS and parenting behaviors in relation to adolescent risky drinking and conduct problems, measured approximately 2 years after the parenting behaviors were assessed. We further tested for differences in these relationships by adolescents’ ethnicity and gender. Findings suggested that fathers’ ADS were associated with adolescent outcomes indirectly by disrupting their own (spillover effect) and mothers’ (crossover effect) positive parenting behaviors, whereas mothers’ ADS were not associated with adolescent outcomes either directly or indirectly via parenting behaviors. We found no ethnic or gender differences in these associations.
