A longitudinal study of parental anti-substance-use socialization for early adolescents’ substance-use behaviors

ABSTRACT

The present study examines the role of communication in shaping norms and behaviors with significant personal and societal consequences. Based on primary socialization theory and the general theory of family communication, parental anti-substance-use socialization processes were hypothesized to influence early adolescents’ substance-use norms and behaviors. Using longitudinal data (N = 1059), the results revealed that parent-adolescent prevention communication about substance use in the media and parental anti-substance-use injunctive norms were positively associated with early adolescents’ personal anti-substance-use norms, which, in turn, led to decreases in recent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. It was also found that family expressiveness and structural traditionalism positively related to the hypothesized association between parental socialization processes and early adolescents’ norms and behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental socialization
• family communication environments
• parent–child communication
• norms
• youth substance use

Acknowledgements

Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Additional information

Funding

This publication was supported by the National Institute (National Institutes of Health) [grant number R01DA021670] on Drug Abuse to The Pennsylvania State University (Michael Hecht, Principal Investigator).