Results from this sample selected for high familial risk for AUDs might not be generalizable to population-based samples. However, the outcomes examined are normative behaviors in population-based data; it is only the timing of these behaviors that may differentiate this from population-based samples. Furthermore, more than 40% of children in the US live in homes with a parent or other adult with alcohol problems (62), and these data may be used to infer risks associated with parental AUD for any child. Parental use of substances other than alcohol was not included, and the timing of parental AUDs or parental separation was not modeled in relation to offspring outcomes. It is possible that remitted parental AUDs might have a different association with outcomes (e.g., null or even protective), or that timing of parental separation is differentially associated with risk. Despite these limitations, the high prevalence of parental AUDs in this sample provides the opportunity to examine parental effects on timing of first use. Future work examining the progression of offspring substance involvement including AUDs in relation to the course of parental AUDs will be important.
