Parent-child relationship quality directly and indirectly influences hooking up behavior reported in young adulthood through alcohol use in adolescence.

Utilizing data from all four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; n = 4,594), the current study explored the direct and indirect effect of parent-child relationship quality during adolescence (Wave 1) on young adult reports of hookup frequency (Wave 4) via alcohol use during adolescence (intercept at Wave 1) and the trajectory of alcohol use across time (slope from Wave 1 through 4). Results from structural equation modeling with a latent growth curve indicated that parent-child relationship quality was related to a lower alcohol use intercept and fewer reported hookups. Both alcohol use slope and intercept were related to more hookups during young adulthood. Bootstrap tests of the indirect paths revealed that, overall, parent-child relationship quality was associated with fewer reported hookups during young adulthood via the mechanism of the alcohol use intercept.