The results with respect to parental conflict were also gender-specific. For boys, frequent parental conflict was associated with more frequent delinquency but not with more frequent alcohol consumption.
For girls the opposite was true. These findings could be related to the Hay’s argument (2003) that the higher feelings of guilt by girls in situations of parental conflict are more likely to produce
self-destructive behaviour (such as alcohol use),
while boys express their anger through more extraverted behaviour (such as delinquency).