The stress-response dampening hypothesis: How self-esteem and stress act as mechanisms between negative parental bonds and alcohol-related problems in emerging adulthood

Parenting styles and emerging adult drug use in Cebu, the Philippines

“…Consistent with our predictions and with studies from Western settings (Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg, & Dornbusch, 1991; Backer-Fulghum et al, 2012), we found that authoritative parenting was associated with reduced odds of offspring drug use while neglectful parenting was associated, at a trend level, with increased odds of drug use. These findings suggest the relevance of parenting for drug use of emerging adult offspring in Cebu.…”

“…Western psychological literature largely deems the authoritative parenting style optimal for offspring development and protective against offspring substance use. This link has been empirically supported and is also conceptually in line with the findings described above regarding the importance of both family connectedness and parental discipline to protect against emerging adult substance use (Backer-Fulghum et al, 2012, Patock-Peckham et al, 2011; Stone et al, 2012). …”

“…While the etiology of substance use problems is complex and multifactorial, parenting styles have been identified as an important and potentially malleable influence on substance use in adolescence and emerging adulthood (Patock-Peckham, King, Morgan-Lopez, Ulloa, & Moses, 2011; Stone et al, 2012). In particular, family connectedness and attachment with parents, as well as parental discipline and monitoring, have been found to protect against emerging adult substance use (Backer-Fulghum, Patock-Peckham, King, Roufa, & Hagen, 2012; Stone et al, 2012). Most research on parenting influences on offspring substance use, however, has been conducted with samples in Western countries.…”

“…Another study found that both high levels of stress and low self-esteem were along the pathway from parenting to alcohol-related problems in emerging adults. Alcohol was often used as a coping mechanism to deal with high stress and low-self esteem following negative parenting experiences (Backer-Fulghum et al, 2012). …”

The origins of individual differences in dispositional mindfulness

“…For example, authoritarian parenting from fathers has been linked with heightened neuroticism (Patock-Peckham & Morgan-Lopez, 2009), which is inversely related to mindfulness (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Similarly, poor parental bonds with fathers are associated with higher depression (Patock-Peckham & Morgan-Lopez, 2007), and greater parental neglect is associated with symptoms of stress (Backer-Fulghum, Patock-Peckham, King, Roufa, & Hagen, 2012), both of which are inversely correlated with mindfulness (Brown & Ryan, 2003;Keng et al, 2011). In brief, the quality of parenting received in childhood is associated with attachment security, and a range of other indices of well-being that are related to mindfulness.…”