An exploratory study of the relationship between parental attitudes and behaviour and young people's consumption of alcohol

Abstract

BackgroundConcern is growing regarding frequent and excessive misuse of alcohol by young people. The average age at which young people in Europe start to drink is twelve and a half, and during the last decade, the quantity of alcohol consumed by younger adolescents in the UK has increased. Families are known to play an important role in shaping young people's alcohol misuse, although family risk and protective factors associated with misuse in a UK context are in need of further investigation.MethodsThe study used a cross-sectional design, involving secondary analyses of self-completion questionnaire responses from 6,628 secondary school children (i.e. aged 11-16 years), from 12 schools within an urban location in Wales. Items relating to family functioning and perceived parental attitudes were first subjected to factor analysis. Associations of family closeness and conflict, parental monitoring and attitudes and family history of substance misuse with children's self reported alcohol consumption were examined using logistic regression analyses.ResultsApproximately three quarters of respondents reported having tried alcohol, most of whom had first tried alcohol aged 12 or under. Parental monitoring and family closeness were positively correlated with one another and were both associated with significantly lower levels of drinking behaviours. Family violence and conflict, more liberal parental attitudes towards substance use and towards alcohol and petty crime, and family history of substance misuse were positively correlated with one another and with higher levels of drinking behaviours. Parental monitoring was identified as the family functioning factor most consistently associated with drinking behaviour in multivariate analyses.ConclusionsSignificant relationships were found between young people's drinking behaviours and perceptions of risk and protective factors in the family environment. Parental monitoring was strongly associated with family closeness and appeared to form one part of a parenting style of more general communication and regulation of children's behaviour. Findings support the need for alcohol misuse prevention interventions which address risk and protective factors within the family setting. Timing of such prevention work should be related both to the development of family relationships and the age at which young people begin drinking alcohol.

Psychological dysregulation during adolescence mediates the association of parent-child attachment in childhood and substance use disorder in adulthood

“…However, whereas previous studies have shown that parenting style (53) and parenting skills (54, 55) are related to the child’s propensity to engage in socially non-normative and illegal behaviors including substance use (10, 21, 56, 57), the present study demonstrates the importance of affective bonding during the developmental period proximal to adolescence, when opportunities for substance use initiation markedly increase.…”

“…Toward this goal, it is well known that deficient parenting skills (8), inconsistent and conflictual communication (9, 10), low supervision (11) and punitive discipline (12) amplify risk for initiating SU and subsequently developing SUD (13). In addition, neglectful parenting augments risk for these outcomes (14).…”

Impact of Family Level Factors on Alcohol Drinking in Primary School Children

“…The authors of several studies indicate that the older children are, the higher chance there is for them to drink alcohol (13,20 (23)(24)(25). In our respondents, these aspects of parental control were confirmed to be very important as well, otherwise the chance to drink alcohol increased 2.5 times (95% CI=1.84-3.41).…”

“…The results of another study point to the fact that if siblings drank alcohol, there was a significantly increased chance of respondent's alcohol abuse (24). In our study group, if respondents had siblings who drank alcohol every day, there was a chance of their alcohol abuse 4.37 times higher (95% CI=1.78-10.69).…”

Alcohol Consumption Among Adolescents — Implications for Public Health

“…In addition, recent data have highlight the existence of protective factors, such as parental control and a supportive environment [104,105]. Studies have consistently found that the parenting style significantly protects against adolescent drinking behavior.…”