Is there a relationship between the alcohol consumption of parents and teenagers?

Abstract

In general, attitudes and behaviours of parents may influence on the configuration of children’s habits. However, it is unclear what extent this influence could exist on important stages such as adolescence, in which their peers are the main reference and exercise a powerful modelling. For this reason, our study explores if certain behaviours and attitudes of parents are related to the consumption and/or attitudes of their children regarding alcohol and other drugs. A total of 331 adolescents (47.2% boys, 52.7% girls) with ages between 13 and 18 years old (M=14.8, SD=1.02) completed the CIACS-2 (Ballester y Gil, 2007). Half of the girls and 70% of the boys have been drunk, at least, once ( X ²=12.72, p=.005). In addition, approximately 25% of boys and girls disagree with the affirmation “I would not use any drug for perceiving fear of its effects”. In this context, positive parental attitudes towards alcohol consumption and their parents’ consumption are associated with the fact that adolescents have ever gotten drunk, consume alcohol on weekends and have positive attitudes towards it. Similarly, positive attitudes toward drugs among family members are related to adolescents’ underestimate of its adverse effects. The risk behaviours and attitudes of relatives seem to modulate, negatively, adolescents’ beliefs and behaviours. Therefore, and taking into account the role of parents as models, it seems essential to design more preventive strategies aimed at family responsible, as well as adolescents.

Keywords

• alcohol
• drogas
• adolescentes
• padres
• modelad