Parenting a Partier: Adolescent Dating Involvement as a Risk Factor for
Substance Use and the Conditional Influence of Parents
Patrick M. Seffrin,
Peggy C. Giordano, Wendy D. Manning, Monica A. Longmore
ABSTRACT
Recent studies have drawn attention to adolescent dating involvement as a risk factor for
substance use and other delinquent behaviors. This study tests whether parents mitigate
their children’s access to drugs and alcohol by restricting casual contact with the opposite
sex. Further, as parents are limited in their capacity to influence children, the study also
evaluates the additive and interactive roles of social identity in the parent-child dynamic.
The current investigation uses a longitudinal sample of Toledo, Ohio area youth
(N=1090) and a multilevel model for change to estimate the growth in substance use from
middle adolescence through early adulthood. Results indicate that high levels of dating
interest and engagement predicts growth in substance use, while parenting practices
specific to dating curtails the growth. The “partier” social identity exhibits an
increasingly aggravating effect on substance use over time and moderates the influence of
general and specific parenting practices.
Direct correspondence to Patrick Seffrin, Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State
University, Bowling Green, OH 43403 (
). This research was supported by a
grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD36223), and by
the Center for Family and Demographic Research at Bowling Green State University, which has
core funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(HD042831-01).