Factors Associated With Parental Rules for Adolescent Alcohol Use

Abstract

This study used the Resilient Families baseline survey to examine associations between the connectedness of parents within the school and parents' rules regarding their children's use of alcohol, prior participation in parenting education, and parents' demographic characteristics. The study involved parents of Year 7 students (mean age 12 years) at secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia (N = 1,238; 2004). Most parents (54%) had no connections with parents of other children in their child's school year. Allowing children to have sips of alcohol or drinks on special occasions was reported by 23% and 6% of parents, respectively, but neither was significantly associated with parental connectedness.

Keywords :

• alcohol
• adolescents
• parents
• social connectedness

THE AUTHORS

Conor Gilligan, PhD, B.BioMed Sci., is a Senior Lecturer in the Health Behavior Science at the University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia. She moved from a biomedical science background to public health and health behavior science through the completion of a PhD focused on behavior change in a vulnerable population in Australia. Dr. Gilligan has since developed a strong interest and track record in research about adolescent alcohol consumption and the role of parents in influencing adolescent drinking.

John W. Toumbourou, PhD, is a Professor and the Chair in the Health Psychology, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia. He is an Associate Director of the Deakin Strategic Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research and a prominent social advocate in areas related to child and adolescent mental health promotion and the prevention of alcohol and drug problems. Prof. Toumbourou has been influential internationally and nationally in assisting the development of research and practice in the fields of prevention science and health psychology. He has received international awards for his contributions in these areas and has been influential in reshaping Australian health policies to more effectively address adolescent alcohol misuse and related problems.

Kypros Kypri, PhD, is a behavioral scientist interested in the evaluation of interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use. He was trained in experimental psychology and public health and holds an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship for research on the prevention of alcohol-related injury. He leads a program of research at the University of Newcastle, involving four interconnected streams: Methodology, Prevalence and Risk Factors, Intervention Trials, and Policy Evaluation.

Patrick McElduff, PhD, is a biostatistician at the University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia. He is involved in teaching biostatistics and epidemiology to postgraduate public health and research students at the University, as well as providing study design and statistical support to researchers within the Faculty of Health at the University of Newcastle and to other medical researchers within the Hunter Region. His main research interest at the moment is the application of causative models with a particular interest in mediation analysis using marginal structural models.

GLOSSARY

• Adolescent: We use this term to refer to 12 to 17 year olds.

• Group norms: Explicit or implicit prescriptions regarding appropriate attitudes and behaviors associated with belonging to a particular group.

• Parental Social Connectedness: A scale based on how many parents of the other children in their child's school year each parent knows personally, how often they speak with them, and whether they speak about their children's behavior or well-being.

• Resilient Families program: A program run in Victoria, Australia, including a 10-week school-based education curriculum delivered to Year 7 secondary school students and a parent education component.

• Social networks: Networks of social interactions and personal relationships.