OHANNESSIAN ET AL. 725 Parental Substance Use Consequences and Adolescent Psychopathology* CHRISTINE MCCAULEY OHANNESSIAN, PH.D., † VICTOR M. HESSELBROCK, PH.D., † JOHN KRAMER, PH.D., † KATHLEEN K. BUCHOLZ, PH.D., † MARC A. SCHUCKIT, M.D., † SAMUEL KUPERMAN, M.D., † AND JOHN I. NURNBERGER, JR., M.D., PH.D. † Department of Individual and Family Studies, University of Delaware, 111 Alison West, Newark, Delaware 19716-3301 Received: March 23, 2004. Revision: June 17, 2004. *The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) (H. Begleiter, State University of New York Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn, principal investigator; T. Reich, Washington University in St. Louis, co-prin- cipal investigator; and H. Edenberg, Indiana University, co-principal investi- gator) comprises nine centers at which data collection, analysis and/or stor- age take place. The nine sites, with principal investigator and co-investigator(s) listed respectively for each, are: Howard University (R. Taylor); Indiana University (H. Edenberg, J. Nurnberger, Jr., P.M. Conneally, T. Foroud); Rutgers University (J. Tischfield); Southwest Foundation (L. Almasy); State University of New York Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn (B. Porjesz, H. Begleiter); University of California at San Diego (M. Schuckit); University of Connecticut (V. Hesselbrock); University of Iowa (R. Crowe, S. Kuperman); Washington University in St. Louis (T. Reich, C.R. Cloninger, J. Rice, A. Goate). Lisa Neuhold serves as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) staff collaborator. This national collaborative study is supported by National Institutes of Health grant U10AA08403 from NIAAA. † Send correspondence to Christine McCauley Ohannessian at the above address, or via email at: ohanness@udel.edu. Victor M. Hesselbrock is with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Medical School, Farmington, CT. John Kramer and Samuel Kuperman are with the Depart- ment of Psychiatry, University of Iowa School of Medicine, Iowa City, IA. Kathleen K. Bucholz is with the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. Marc A. Schuckit is with the Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA. John I. Nurnberger, Jr., is with the Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN. 725 ABSTRACT: Objective: This study examines the relationship between parental substance use consequences and adolescent psychological prob- lems by gender of the adolescent and gender of the parent. Method: The data in this study were collected between 1989 and 1994 from 173 (116 proband and 57 control) families participating in the Collabora- tive Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) project. All 173 ado- lescents (89 [51%] boys) completed the Structured Assessment Record of Alcoholic Homes (SARAH) to assess parental substance use conse- quences. In addition, the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism for Adolescents (C-SSAGA-A) was administered to all adolescents to obtain clinical psychiatric diagnoses. Results: Concern about mother’s substance use was significantly associated with adoles- cent alcohol dependence and major depressive disorder. In addition, con- cern about father’s substance use was significantly related to adolescent alcohol dependence. Avoidance of mother when she was drinking or us- ing drugs and maternal anger when drinking or using drugs also was significantly associated with adolescent alcohol dependence, conduct disorder and major depressive disorder. In contrast, avoidance of father and paternal anger when drinking or using drugs was not related to any of the adolescent diagnoses. Conclusions: These results suggest that maternal substance use consequences may be more closely linked to ado- lescent psychological adjustment than are paternal substance use con- sequences. (J. Stud. Alcohol 65: 725-730, 2004) R ESEARCH ON CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS (COAs) has consistently shown that COAs are at an increased risk for behavioral problems (Connolly et al., 1993; Loukas et al., 2001; Reich et al., 1993), psychologi- cal problems (Chassin et al., 1999; Reich et al., 1993) and substance abuse problems (Chassin et al., 1999, 2002) com- pared with non-COAs. However, it is important to note that not all COAs develop problems. The reasons why some COAs develop problems while others do not need to be further explored. The underlying processes involved in the relationship between parental alcoholism and offspring ad- justment are still not clear; however, research has indicated that characteristics of the family (e.g., parental monitoring, parental discipline, family conflict, family rituals) may me- diate and/or moderate the relationship between parental al- coholism and offspring adjustment (Chassin et al., 1993; Sher, 1991; Windle and Tubman, 1999). Nevertheless, it should be noted that most studies that have examined char- acteristics of COA families have examined the family at a family systems level. Relatively few studies have taken a microlevel approach when examining COA family dynam- ics. The goal of this study was to use such an approach to examine the immediate effects of parental substance use within the family and to explore whether these effects are systematically related to the offspring’s adjustment. The present study focuses specifically on adolescents because comparatively few studies have been conducted on the effects of parental substance use during adolescence. This is unfortunate because psychological problems such as depression and anxiety become considerably more preva- lent during this developmental period (Kessler et al., 2001).