Effectiveness of an email-based intervention helping parents to enhance alcohol-related parenting skills and reduce their children’s alcohol consumption – A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Aims: Developing and evaluating an email-based intervention (EBI) to enhance alcohol-related parenting skills and reduce alcohol consumption among adolescents. Methods: Over four weeks, participating parents received a weekly email containing scientific findings, practical advice and exercises in relation to such topics as alcohol-related rule-setting and communication. Using a randomised controlled trial (ID: DRKS00007763), data from 467 parents and 173 adolescents were collected via self-report online questionnaires and analysed by means of repeated measures analysis of variance. Findings: Controlling for baseline, parents in the intervention group (IG) scored higher for being informed (parents of girls: F = 19.023, p = 0.000; parents of boys: F = 30.294, p = 0.000) and for self-efficacy (parents of girls: F = 6.122, p = 0.014; parents of boys: F = 10.195, p = 0.002) at follow-up and, in the case of boys, were more successful in maintaining strict rules on alcohol consumption (F = 13.704, p = 0.000) than parents in the control group (CG) (girls: F = 1.627; p = 0.204). Boys whose parents were in the IG reported less heavy episodic drinking at follow-up (F = 4.192, p = 0.043), controlled for baseline, than those with parents in the CG (girls: F = 0.567; p = 0.454). Conclusions: The EBI has positive effects on alcohol-related parenting and may reduce heavy episodic drinking among boys. Since it is delivered via email, the programme has considerable potential to reach many parents at low cost.

Keywords:

• Adolescence
• parents
• alcohol
• prevention

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Suzy Eggers and Thomas Musgrove for English copy editing, Andreas Schubert for designing the parent programme, the team from the University of Bamberg, the Bayerische Akademie für Sucht- und Gesundheitsfragen, the HaLT centres and above all the participating parents and adolescents.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. The authors are not in receipt of funding from the alcohol industry. The study received financial support from the University of Bamberg, the Federal Health Ministry in Bavaria (grant numbers: 55.2-2682.01-4/12 and 55.2-2682.01-4/13) and the health insurer AOK.