Pathways to alcohol use among Dutch students in regular education and education for adolescents with behavioral problems: the role of parental alcohol use, general parenting practices, and alcohol-specific parenting practices.

The present study explored the role of parents' alcohol use, general parenting practices (support and behavioral control), and alcohol-specific parenting practices (alcohol-specific rule enforcement and alcohol availability at home) on adolescent alcohol use. Structural equation analyses were performed on cross-sectional data from adolescents who received special education because of behavioral problems (n=411) and from adolescents who received regular education (n=428). The main findings show that alcohol-specific parenting practices appear to be highly important in regulating adolescent alcohol use. Parental alcohol use was related to alcohol-specific rule enforcement and alcohol availability at home. Behavioral control was also related to alcohol-specific rule enforcement. Furthermore, the relationships between parental alcohol use, parenting practices, and adolescent alcohol use did not appear to differ substantially for students in special and regular education. Copyright (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved.