The current study addresses methodological limitations in previous research by using a general population sample of adolescents and their parents to investigate four dimensions of school adjustment across the full range of parental drinking, from abstainers to abusers. By employing this method, high generalizability will be achieved. It was possible to study the unique contributions of maternal and paternal drinking and to control for parental mental distress as a possible confounder. Possible mediating effects of witnessing the parents intoxicated were investigated, and so were the possible mediation of effects of parental abuse on school adjustment by mental distress or poor social network.
