In the AA sample, we found a pattern of effects consistent with our hypothesis that family relationship adversities are associated with poorer offspring alcohol outcomes. Parental divorce was associated with earlier age of initiating regular drinking but not with likelihood of developing AUD, though the effect was in the same direction as in the EA sample. In contrast, parental relationship discord was associated with both earlier age of initiating regular drinking and greater risk for developing AUD. We note that this pattern of findings is slightly different from what was found in the EA sample. Although the reasons why parental discord predicts both initiation of regular drinking and AUD but parental divorce only predicts initiation in the AA sample are unknown, it is consistent with some prior evidence that there are racial/ethnic differences in the effects of parental divorce on children’s outcomes, which have shown that the adverse effects tend to be weaker for African American/Black children than European American/White children (Amato & Keith, 1991). The racial/ethnic disparities in how adverse family experiences influence alcohol use outcomes (Waldron et al.,
