Communicative Support and Parental Knowledge among African American Residential Fathers: Longitudinal Associations with Adolescent Substance Use

Objectives The current examines how African American residential fathers’ communicative support and parental knowledge influence adolescents’ substance use across a 3-year period. Additionally, this study examines whether these associations vary for African American boys and girls. Method Participants were 665 African American adolescents (M = 13.1 years of age; 49% female) from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1997. All adolescents resided with their fathers or father figures. Individual and parallel process growth curve analyses examined how communicative support and parental knowledge were associated with initial levels and rate of change in African American adolescents’ substance use. Results Although African American girls exhibited higher initial levels of substance use, there was greater growth in boys’ substance use over time. Analyses indicated that residential fathers’ parental knowledge was associated with substance use over time for both girls and boys. Findings also revealed that demographic factors more strongly predicted father–daughter relational characteristics. Conclusions Our study highlights how African American residential fathers’ parenting practices influence adolescent substance use. Further, this investigation suggests that gender and demographic variation in relation to African American girls’ and boys’ substance use is highly nuanced. Implications for prevention are discussed.