Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7669-835X

Date Available

12-15-2025

Year of Publication

2025

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Psychology

Faculty

Peggy Keller

Faculty

Michael T. Bardo

Abstract

Parental problem drinking (PPD) is a well-established risk factor for adolescent alcohol use, yet the complex mechanisms involved remain underexplored. The present study addresses this critical gap by examining how PPD, parent emotion socialization, and emerging adult problem drinking are associated within the framework of the Dual Process Model of Substance Use. Participants were 2,036 undergraduates who completed an online survey assessing PPD, retrospective reports of parental reactions to their negative emotions in childhood, and students’ current levels of problem drinking, negative urgency, negative emotional reactivity, and emotion-regulation difficulties. Structural equation modeling was used to clarify the roles of emotion-related automatic and reflective processes as either intervening variables or moderators of associations between PPD, parent reactions, and problem drinking. Models were fit separately for each emotional process and for mothers and fathers. Indirect-effects models generally demonstrated that higher PPD was associated with less supportive and more punitive, minimizing, and distressed parental reactions, which in turn were associated with greater emotion-related difficulties and higher levels of problem drinking. Bootstrapped estimates also supported several simple and sequential indirect pathways for both mother and father models. These findings support the integration of multiple theoretical frameworks and highlight key emotional pathways through which intergenerational risk for problem drinking may be transmitted.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.587

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