Prospective Effects of Family Cohesion on Alcohol-Related Problems in Adolescence: Similarities and Differences by Race/Ethnicity

Research increasingly finds that race/ethnicity needs to be taken into account in the modelling of associations between protective factors and adolescent drinking behaviors in order to understand family effects and promote positive youth development. The current study examined racial/ethnic variation in the prospective effects of family cohesion on adolescent alcohol-related problems using a nationally representative sample. Data were drawn from the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and included 10,992 (50 % female) non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black, Latino, and non-Hispanic White 7th–12th graders. Consistent with Hirschi’s social control theory of youth delinquency, higher levels of family cohesion predicted lower levels of future adolescent alcohol-related problems, independent of race/ethnicity, sex, age, baseline alcohol-related problems, and family socioeconomic status. Findings from moderation analyses indicated that the magnitude of associations differed across groups such that the protective effect of family cohesion was strongest among White adolescents. For Latino adolescents, family cohesion was not associated with alcohol-related problems. Future longitudinal cross-racial/ethnic research is needed on common and unique mechanisms underlying differential associations between family processes and adolescent high-risk drinking. Understanding these processes could help improve preventive interventions, identify vulnerable subgroups, and inform health policy aimed at reducing alcohol-related health disparities.