Citation

Cox MJ, Janssen T, Lopez-Vergara H, Barnett NP, Jackson KM. J. Adolesc. 2018; 69: 22-32.

Affiliation

Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Box G-S121-4, Providence, RI, 02912, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.08.009

PMID

30219736

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: While alcohol-specific parenting practices have demonstrated unique effects on adolescent substance use, their efficacy in the context of parental drinking levels has not been studied. This study assessed the influence of three alcohol-specific parenting practices (rules, punishment, communication) on adolescent alcohol use, and the degree to which those associations varied by parents' own drinking.

METHODS: We conducted logistic regression analyses among US adolescents (N = 1023; 52% female; 12% Hispanic; 76% Caucasian, 5% Black, 8% mixed race, 11% other race/ethnicity; mean age at enrollment = 12.2 years) to examine the relationship between alcohol-specific parenting practices and the odds of ever having experienced two drinking milestones, having a full drink of alcohol and a heavy drinking episode, and whether parental drinking levels moderated those associations.

RESULTS: Strict rules for drinking, higher levels of cautionary communication messages, and punishment for drinking were associated with lower odds of alcohol use. Witnessing parent drinking increased the risk for both alcohol outcomes. Furthermore, parental drinking modified the influence of parental cautionary messages on alcohol use such that the effect was particularly salient for those youth who witnessed and whose parents reported higher levels of alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS: Family-based preventive interventions should include skills training in alcohol-specific parenting practices with emphasis on reducing parental alcohol use particularly when children are present.

Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent alcohol use; Adolescent heavy episodic drinking; Parental drinking; Parental socialization of alcohol