Alcoholism, associated risk factors, and harsh parenting among fathers: Examining the role of marital aggression

This study utilized a longitudinal design to examine relations between paternal alcoholism, paternal psychopathology, marital aggression and fathers' harsh parenting behavior in a sample of children with alcoholic (n = 89) and non-alcoholic (n = 94) fathers. Structural Equation Modeling revealed that paternal alcoholism, depression, and antisocial behavior at 12 months of child age each predicted higher levels of marital aggression at 36 months. Moreover, after controlling for prior parenting, marital aggression was predictive of harsher parenting at kindergarten. Alcoholism and psychopathology were not directly predictive of harsh parenting with marital aggression included in the model, thus indicating that marital aggression is mediating the relation between paternal risk factors and parenting outcome. Results of this study suggest that one pathway linking fathers' alcohol diagnosis to harsh parenting is via marital aggression.