Economic deprivation may be responsible for some of the negative influences of marital disruption on children (Sun & Li, 2002). Levels of parental income may affect children of divorce through downward residential mobility, which may provide youth with more opportunities to experiment due to reduced parental monitoring and parental involvement and greater access to alcohol. The effects of family-level SES on adolescent alcohol use are inconsistent; greater access to alcohol may be facilitated by greater resources in high SES households (Casswell, Pledger & Hooper, 2003), but at the same time, youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods appear to have greater access to alcohol (Crum, Lillie-Blanton, & Anthony, 1996; Romley, Cohen, Ringel, & Sturm, 2007). Although the role of SES in adolescent substance use is complex, there is consistent evidence that parental divorce and household composition are still significantly predictive of adolescent substance use controlling for SES (Barrett & Turner, 2006; Jeynes, 2001).
