Trusting and misleading. Parents’ and children’s communication and negotiation about alcohol as described by teenagers

Abstract

Background: Typically, research on parents’ and children’s interactions around alcohol issues focuses on how parenting styles and parents’ examples affect teenager’s drinking habits. In this paper, we approach the theme from the youngsters’ perspective. We ask how teenagers describe the interaction on alcohol-related issues with their parents and how they would like their parents to act during these interactions.

Data and methods: The article applies the concept of trust, which is seen as a feature connecting all kinds of communities, and especially families. We pay attention to whether alcohol issues challenge trustful relations and give rise to contradictions and complications in the interactions between parents and children.

Results: The analysis shows the ways how trust is maintained and challenged in teenagers? accounts of communication regarding alcohol with their parents. It also shows that although trust is tested in several ways, it is essential for teenagers. Even though teenagers tell how they can mislead their parents by using strategies that challenge trust, they nevertheless highlight the importance of trusting ties with parents. Teenagers do not exclude their parents from alcohol-related discussion but expect rules, communication and authority from them. Our data suggest that teenagers also want to protect their parents from disappointments caused by their own actions.

Conclusions: A trusting parent–child relationship, based on dialog rather than opposition, seems to play a significant role in guiding teenagers’ alcohol-related attitudes and practices.

Keywords:

• Youth drinking
• family interaction
• parent–child communication
• focus groups
• qualitative methods
• trust

Acknowledgements

The article was written as part of the project ‘Growing up in a Finnish Alcohol Culture’, organized by the Independence Memorial Childrens´ Foundation (IITLA) and The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). This research has been funded by The Independence Memorial Children’s Foundation (ITLA).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been funded by The Independence Memorial Children’s Foundation (ITLA).