Our study provided evidence that divorce/separation had stronger effects on drinking initiation at higher levels of parental drinking. This finding extends findings by Thompson and colleagues (Thompson et al., 2008; 2013) showing that experiencing parental divorce and maternal and/or paternal alcohol problems increased the likelihood of alcohol dependence, and supports the notion that children fare worst when exposed to both parental divorce and parental substance use. We failed to detect an interaction between parental divorce/separation and family history of alcoholism, and likewise found no support for stress-sensitization, as the interaction between perceived stress and parental divorce/separation was non-significant. Although there were sex differences in the hazard of initiation such that girls were more likely to initiate, we did not find evidence that the association between parental divorce/separation and alcohol use differs by sex.
