Adolescent drinking, conduct problems, and parental bonding

This study examined the relationships among perceived parental bonding and two common forms of adolescent deviance - alcohol use and conduct problems - using self-reported data collected from 158 male and 235 female Australian secondary school students. The hypothesis that perceptions of parental neglect would be associated with both types of adolescent deviance was generally supported. Perceived parental overprotection was found to be predictive of conduct problems only. A hierarchical regression analysis of delinquency scores (with those from alcohol-use items removed) revealed that alcohol misuse was a predictor of conduct problems above and beyond the contributions from various parental bonding and sociodemographic variables. Implications of the findings for theories of adolescent deviance and directions for future investigations and youth programs are discussed.