Alcohol use is often part of the fabric of marriage and family life, and although it is associated with certain positive effects, excessive drinking and alcohol disorders can exert a negative effect on the marital development and on the development of children in the context of the family. This review considers evidence that alcohol influences and is influenced by marital/family processes, including transitions into marriage and parenthood, marital satisfaction, marital violence, parenting, and child development. The review discusses the importance of antisocial behavior and the need to examine women's drinking, and the joint impact of men's and women's drinking on marital/family processes. The review highlights the lack of studies in certain key areas, including the link between discordant drinking and violence and marital satisfaction, the role of alcohol in child neglect, and the potential role of marital conflict as a mediator or moderator of the relationship between alcohol and child functioning.

The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model predicting children's externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten in a sample of children with alcoholic (n = 130) and nonalcoholic (n = 97) parents. The model examined the role of parents' alcohol diagnoses, depression, and antisocial behavior at 12-18 months of child age in predicting parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years of child age. Parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years was hypothesized to predict children's self-regulation at 3 years (effortful control and internalization of rules), which in turn was expected to predict externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten. Structural equation modeling was largely supportive of this conceptual model. Fathers' alcohol diagnosis at 12-18 months was associated with lower maternal and paternal warmth/sensitivity at 2 years. Lower maternal warmth/sensitivity was longitudinally predictive of lower child self-regulation at 3 years, which in turn was longitudinally predictive of higher externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten, after controlling for prior behavior problems. There was a direct association between parents' depression and children's externalizing behavior problems. Results indicate that one pathway to higher externalizing behavior problems among children of alcoholics may be via parenting and self-regulation in the toddler to preschool years. Keywordsalcoholism; parenting; self-regulation; externalizing behavior problems It is now well established that children of alcoholic parents are at increased risk for interpersonal and behavior problems, psychiatric disturbances, substance abuse (including early onset of alcohol use), and developmental trajectories of persistent alcohol problems (Chassin, Flora, & King, 2004;Jackson, Sher, & Wood, 2000;Jacob & Windle, 2000). Researchers have speculated that one pathway to later substance abuse disorders among children of alcoholics is through higher incidence of behavior problems or behavioral undercontrol, characterized by higher aggression, impulsivity, and sensation seeking (Sher, 1991). This model has been supported by empirical evidence indicating that children of alcoholic fathers have higher ratesCorrespondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rina D. Eiden, 1021 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203. E-mail: E-mail: eiden@ria.buffalo.edu. of externalizing behavior problems and behavioral undercontrol (e.g., Blackson, 1994;DeLucia, Belz, & Chassin, 2001;Edwards, Eiden, Colder, & Leonard, 2006;Jacob & Windle, 2000). However, with the exception of recent reports from the Michigan Longitudinal Study (e.g., Loukas, Zucker, Fitzgerald, & Krull, 2003), few studies have investigated the mediational pathways explaining the association between parental alcohol problems and children's externalizing behavior problems using longitudinal data. Two important mediators of this association that have been implicated in studies using other high-risk samples are children's self-regulatory abilities and lower parental warmth/sensitivity. NIH Publi...

No abstract

BACKGROUND Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit drug among pregnant women, but data describing the effects of prenatal cannabis exposure and concurrent nicotine and cannabis exposures on neonatal growth are inconsistent. Testing of meconium, the first neonatal feces, offers objective evidence of prenatal cannabis exposure, but the relative ability of meconium testing and maternal self-report to identify affected neonates remains unclear. METHODS Eighty-six pregnant women provided detailed self-reports of daily cannabis and tobacco consumption throughout pregnancy. Cannabinoids and tobacco biomarkers were identified in oral fluid samples collected each trimester and quantified in meconium at birth. RESULTS Cannabis-using women were significantly more likely to also consume tobacco, and smoked similar numbers of cigarettes as non–cannabis-using tobacco smokers. As pregnancy progressed, fewer women smoked cannabis and those who continued to use cannabis reported smoking a smaller number of cannabis joints, but positive maternal oral fluid tests cast doubt on the veracity of some maternal self-reports. More neonates were identified as cannabis exposed by maternal self-report than meconium analysis, because many women quit cannabis use after the first or second trimester; meconium was more likely to be positive if cannabis use continued into the third trimester. Cannabis exposure was associated with decreased birth weight, reduced length, and smaller head circumference, even after data were controlled for tobacco coexposure. CONCLUSIONS Prenatal cannabis exposure was associated with fetal growth reduction. Meconium testing primarily identifies prenatal cannabis exposure occurring in the third trimester of gestation.

No abstract