(PS1-A11) The Impact of Family Conflict on Alcohol Use and Mental Health Among a Predominantly Latinx College Student Sample

Family conflict may serve as a host for adjustment problems among adolescents including symptoms of depression and anxiety and poor physical health (Cummings & Davies, 2010). However, research has mainly focused on specific family systems (i.e., interparental, parent hostility) rather than family conflict as a whole. Moreover, there have been studies linking family conflict to substance use in the general population (Arteaga et al., 2010), but there are limited studies of family conflict and college students' alcohol use. The current study investigated the associations between family conflict likelihood and seriousness, alcohol use in the past year and mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) among college students.
 

College students (n=450; M_age=20.83 years, SD=4.54, 83% Hispanic) from a predominantly Hispanic university on the U.S./Mexico border were recruited via a web-based system. After providing consent, students completed the following assessments: Sociodemographics, Family Conflict Scale (FCS), Drug Use Frequency (DUF), and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Scale (DASS). Two linear regressions assessed family conflict likelihood and seriousness. All model predictors included alcohol use in the past year and the three subscales of DASS while controlling for age and sex.
 

The linear regression assessing family conflict likelihood was statistically significant (F(6, 319) = 6.727 p < .001), such that age (b=-.336, p < .05), and alcohol use in the past year (b=-.015, p < .05) were negatively associated, and anxiety (b=.264, p=.01) was positively associated with the likelihood of family conflict. The second linear regression assessing family conflict seriousness was statistically significant (F(6, 291) = 6.878 p < .001) such that age (b=-.305, p < .05) and alcohol use in the past year (b=-.028, p < .05) were negatively associated with family conflict seriousness.
 

Contrary to the literature (Fish et al., 2015; Skeer at al., 2011), experiencing family conflict was associated with less drinking and younger age in the present study. These results suggest that parental control and restriction of autonomy can counterintuitively serve as a protective factor from alcohol use in order to preserve specific family standards and values. That anxiety was positively associated with the likelihood of familial conflict is supported by past research (Epkins & Heckler, 2011) suggesting that family conflict may exacerbate anxiety symptoms by elevating the individual's emotional insecurity about the family system. Given the cross-sectional nature of this study, future studies are warranted to assess the temporal relationships between family conflict, alcohol use, and emotional dysregulation. Moreover, clinical implications suggest the importance of family cohesion and parental awareness of the negative implications of family conflict among a predominantly Latinx college student sample.