Here at Upstream Parent, we’ve used local data to identify areas we can target to help prevent and reduce underage drinking in Cortland County. We also spent hours reading pages and pages of peer reviewed research and other articles published by reliable organizations.
I’ll spare you ALL the boring details, but I’d like to share one study that support the conclusions we’ve made using local data. Limiting your child’s access to alcohol and setting clear rules and enforcing them is an easy way parents can help prevent their teens from drinking and reduce the burden of underage drinking in our community. In general, we always try to use both local data from the youth survey and peer reviewed research before we draw any sort of conclusion.
The study, which was published in 2015, included 537 youth ages 12-15 and took place over a two year period. The researchers wanted to see what parenting factors could predict an increase in alcohol use and alcohol related problems.
They looked at the following factors:
- The drinking behaviors of the parents
- Parental rules about alcohol
- Frequency of communication about alcohol
- Quality of communication about alcohol
- Perceived availability of alcohol
The study made these conclusions:
- The only parenting factor that predicted an increase in youth alcohol use and alcohol related problems two years later was perceived availability of alcohol at home (aka whether or not the child thought they would be able to access alcohol in their own home).
- The impact of perceived availability (aka an increase in drinking and alcohol related problems) is eliminated if a child also perceives there are strict parental rules regarding alcohol use in their home.
This research, coupled with the conclusions we can make from the youth survey data, supports the idea that parents should not only limit access to alcohol in their homes, but also set and enforce clear rules about alcohol use with their kids.
References
Eijnden RVD, Mheen DVD, Vet R, Vermulst A. Alcohol-Specific Parenting and Adolescents’ Alcohol-Related Problems: The Interacting Role of Alcohol Availability at Home and Parental Rules*. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 2011;72(3):408-417. doi:10.15288/jsad.2011.72.408.
