Parents are the key to reducing teenagers' alcohol abuse?

A study on the effects of parents' drinking on teenagers.

To the right you can download a study on the effects of parental drinking and attitudes to alcohol on teenagers. The study was carried out in Aberdeen.

Here are the conclusions:

Conclusions

From the three phases of research the following conclusions can be drawn:

• That the majority of young people aged 11 plus in Aberdeen do drink alcohol (over 70%).
• That of the young people who do drink over a quarter report that when they drink they usually get drunk (over three-quarters in initial small survey phase 1).
• That there does appear to be a link between whether a parent is perceived by the child as usually getting drunk when they drink and whether or not that child usually gets drunk when they drink. The increase is over twice as many from 9% of young people usually getting drunk who don't perceive their parents as usually getting drunk when they drink to 19.4% of young people usually getting drunk who do perceive their parents as usually getting drunk when they drink. (Phase 2 survey).
• However the frequency of drinking (as in times per week rather than quantity per drinking session) does not appear to have a similar modelling effect between parental and child drinking patterns. Indeed the difference was that young people who usually get drunk are more likely to have parents who don't drink regularly than young people who don't usually get drunk. (Phase 2)
• The majority of parents had given small amounts of alcohol to their children (the children were aged eleven or younger). While over half of the young people surveyed said they had received alcohol in moderate amounts from their parents.
• That parents do not generally think they are role models for their children in relation to drinking patterns.
• That the stated perception (by parents and teenagers) that parents have little influence over teenager's drinking is contrary to some of the evidence from phases 1 and 2.
• That some young people (varied between the phases) are encouraged to see drinking as fun / good from the way their parents act and speak about it.
• Both young people and parents found it difficult to say what would help parents get the message of safe /moderate drinking across. However the majority of parents did want help with this.
• Young people thought reducing access to alcohol and providing alternative activities were likely to be the most effective ways to reduce their drinking.
• That parents felt that peers and popular culture influenced young people's drinking more than anything else.
• Health message advertising & leaflets were not perceived as very useful by parents or young people.