research. A second potential limitation was that we chose to focus exclusively on marital satisfaction as our intervening or mediating variable. However, other variables particularly for fathers may also act as additional mechanisms through which paternal alcoholism exerts its effects on negative parenting behaviors. For example, other family effects have been hypothesized to play a role linking parental alcohol problems and disrupted parenting, including sibling interactions, financial strain, social isolation and disruption in normal family routines due to external stresses (Jacob & Leonard, 1994; Zucker & Gomberg, 1986). In addition, other aspects of the marital relationship might also be considered, such as marital conflict and aggression and/or the kinds of disagreements parents have with each other (e.g., child-rearing disagreements, financial disagreements). Future research might explore these additional factors, so that a more comprehensive model of parental alcoholism, family functioning and parenting can be examined.
