Instrumental Support from Parents and Substance Use During the Transition to Adulthood

Instrumental support from parents can be a protective factor in the lives of children and adolescents—one that serves to reduce the risks of drug and alcohol use. But the link between instrumental support from parents and substance use has seldom been explored in emerging adulthood. In particular, it is unclear whether instrumental support from parents during this stage in the life course is protective, or whether it enables young adults’ binge drinking and drug use. Four waves of panel data from the Pathways to Desistance Study are used. Multilevel models are estimated to examine the relationship between parental instrumental support (providing living expenses, loaning money, providing transportation, and shopping/cleaning/doing laundry) and two forms of substance use (binge drinking and illicit drug use) during the transition to adulthood (N = 1137 individuals; 3288 person-waves). Our findings indicate that instrumental support from parents is unrelated to changes in binge drinking or illicit drug use during emerging adulthood. This association was null regardless of the type of instrumental support provided, or how instrumental support was measured. Instrumental support also had no impact on substance use for individuals with prior histories of drug and alcohol use. The results raise questions about the salience of instrumental support from parents during emerging adulthood and instead suggest that parental support may matter most during earlier stages of the life course.