Alcohol-specific parenting, adolescents' self-control and their implicit associations with alcohol

Adolescents' implicit associations about alcohol are predictive of the amount of alcohol they consume (Thus et al., 2008). Van der Vorst et al. (2012) have shown that parents' own drinking behavior predictedmore positive implicit associations about alcohol, and adolescents' subsequent onset of drinking. It is however unknown how parents' alcohol-specific behaviors influence adolescents' implicit associations about alcohol. Parenting behaviors are of importance for the development of selfcontrol (Koning et al., 2013), and self-control plays an important role in the understanding of implicit associations (Wiers et al., 2007). Therefore, it is investigated whether the impact of parenting on adolescents' implicit associations about alcohol depends on the level of self-control in adolescents. Longitudinal data with a time span of 5 years (age 14 and 19) including 244 adolescents were used to conduct linear regression analyses in SPSS. Adolescents reported on a variety of alcohol-related behaviors and general self-control and carried out the Brief Implicit Association Test. First, model the main effects of alcohol-specific parenting behaviors (rules about alcohol, quality and frequency of communication about alcohol) on implicit associations about alcohol were tested. Second, interaction effects of parenting behaviors with self-control were included. Results showed that perceived alcohol-specific parenting behaviors reported at age 14 did not significantly impact the level of associations with alcohol at age 19. Interaction effects of parenting behaviors with adolescents' self-control showed that among adolescents reporting a low self-control, strict rules about alcohol at age 14 predict less positive associations about alcohol at age 19. In adolescents with a high self-control, strict rules about alcohol at age 14 predict more positive associations about alcohol at age 19. In conclusion, the results of this study reveal the relevance of alcohol-specific rules set by parents at age 14 for the formation of implicit associations about alcohol 5 years later. More importantly, the level of self-control at age 14 play an important role in the way these rules impact associations about alcohol at age 19. These findings contribute to the understanding of how parents impact the implicit associations about alcohol in their offspring and the role of adolescents' self-control.