Parental Influences on Substance Use Among First-Year College Students: A Latent Profile Analysis and Racial/Ethnic Differences

This study took a person-centered approach to examine parental influences on alcohol and cannabis use among White and Hispanic/Latinx college students. 704 college students (74.4% female; 34.7% Hispanic/Latinx) completed an online survey. Latent profile analysis identified four parenting profiles characterized by different patterns of perceived parent-child relationship quality, parental monitoring, and parental disapproval of substance use: low disapproval (4.1%), low paternal quality and monitoring (25.8%), low quality and monitoring (12.5%), and high quality monitoring and disapproval (57.6%). Students in the High Quality Monitoring and Disapproval profile had the lowest levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms. Students in the Low Disapproval profile had the highest frequency of cannabis use than students in other parenting profiles. Among Hispanic/Latinx students only, the High-Quality Monitoring and Disapproval profile was associated with fewer AUD symptoms compared to the Low Paternal Quality and Monitoring profile and the Low Quality and Monitoring profile.