There are gender differences in the extent to which parental variables influence adolescent drinking. Parental monitoring tends to affect substance use in both boys and girls over time (Schinke, Fang, & Cole, 2008; Webb et al. 2002), and has been shown to influence boys’ alcohol use more strongly than girls (Barnes et al, 2000). Recent longitudinal research with younger children has suggested that there is also a stronger direct relationship between parental alcohol use and children’s intentions to drink in boys than in girls over time, meaning that boys may be more directly influenced by parental drinking than are girls (Tildesley & Andrews, 2008). However, there is also a demonstrable relationship between parental monitoring behavior and girls’ alcohol use (Schinke, Fang, & Cole, 2008), and girls’ intentions to use (Tildesley & Andrews), suggesting that this monitoring may be a more strong protective factor in girls than in boys while boys may be more strongly influence by a combination of social factors.
