Peer and Parental Influences on Male Adolescent Drinking

Abstract

Using data from males aged 16-19 in Buffalo, NY, the present study examines two social mechanisms by which parents and peers influence adolescent drinking—behavioral and attitudinal transmission—and compares the patterns of behavioral and attitudinal transmission for parents and for peers. The study also assesses the relative importance of parents and peers in accounting for adolescent alcohol behavior. The findings indicate that both alcohol behavior and attitudes of parents and peers are significant predictors of adolescent drinking. However, the prediction patterns are reversed. Parental attitudes are more important than parental alcohol behavior, while peer alcohol behavior is more important than peer attitudes. Overall, peers have more influence on adolescent drinking than parents. There is a significant interaction of parental alcohol-related attitudes and age, which indicates that parental alcohol-related attitudes exert a greater effect on younger (i.e., age 16-17) males' alcohol use.

RESUMEN

Utilizando datos de muchachos de los 16 a los 19 años en Buffalo, NY, el estudio presente examina dos mecanismos sociales a través de los cuales los padres y los amigos influencian el consumo de alcohol entre adolescents—la transmisión de comportamientos y de actitudes—y compara los patrones de la transmisión de comportamientos y actitudes de los padres y los amigos. Además, el estudio también evalúa la importancia relativa de padres y amigos al explicar el comportamiento de adolescentes hacia el alcohol. Los hallazgos indican que tanto la actitud de los padres como la de los amigos son fuertes indicativos del consumo alcohólico adolescente. Sin embargo, los patrones de predicción están invertidos. La actitud de los padres es más importante que su comportamiento, mientras que el comportamiento de los amigos es más importante que su actitud. En conjunto, los amigos tienen más influencia en el consumo adolescente de alcohol que los padres. Existe una interacción significativa entre la actitud de los padres hacia el alcohol y la edad del adolescente, la cual indica que la actidud de los padres hacia el alcohol ejerce un efecto mayor sobre el consumo entre adolescentes de menor edad (16 a 17 años).

RÉSUMÉ

Utilisant des données des hommes d'aˇge 16-19 en Buffalo, NY, l'étude actuelle examine deux mécanismes sociaux par lesquels les parents et pairs influencent l'adolescent qui boit - transmission de comportement et d'attitude - et compare les modèles de transmission de comportement et d'attitude pour les parents et pairs. Davantage, l'étude évalue aussi l'importance relative de parents et pairs en rendre compte du comportement de l'adolescent qui boit. Les résultats indiquent que le comportement d'alcool et les attitudes des parent et pairs sont des présages significatifs de l'adolescent qui boit. Cependant, les modèles de prédiction sont renversés. Les attitudes parentales sont plus important que le comportant parental d'alcool tandis que le comportement d'alcool des pairs est plus important que les comportement de pair. En général, les pairs ont plus d'influence sur l'adolescent qui boit que les parents. Il y a une interaction significative des comportements parental liés à l'alcool, qui indique que les comportements parental liés a l'alcool exercent un plus grand effet sur l'emploi d'alcool des hommes plus jeunes (i.e. aˇge 16-17).

Lening Zhang is a postdoctoral fellow at the Research Institute on Addictions. He received his Ph.D. in the Department of Sociology, University at Albany, SUNY. His current research focuses on substance use and crime.

John W. Welte received his Ph.D. in Psychology, and has been at the Research Institute on Addictions since 1976. He has published on the epidemiology of substance use, and the relationship between substance use and crime. Dr. Welte has served on federal grant review panels, and as a consultant on research methods and statistics.

William F. Wieczorek graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he also received Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Geography. Currently, he is a Senior Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions. His research on drinking drivers, spatial patterns of alcohol-related mortality, and models to allocate resources for alcohol-user-related services are funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Key Words:

• Adolescent
• Peer
• Parent
• Alcohol
• Transmission