How important are parents during the college years? A longitudinal perspective of indirect influences parents yield on their college teens' alcohol use

Caitlin Abar, Robert Turrisi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

127 Scopus citations

Abstract

Building on previous findings supporting the continuing influence of parents on their teens after they have gone to college [Turrisi, R., Jaccard, J., Taki, R., Dunnam, H., & Grimes, J. (2001). Examination of the short-term efficacy of a parent intervention to reduce college student drinking tendencies. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 15(4), 366-372.; Turrisi, R., Padilla, K., & Wiersma, K. (2000). College student drinking: An examination of theoretical models of drinking tendencies in freshman and upperclassmen. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 598-602.[28]], this study examined the possible indirect influence that parents may have on their teen's alcohol use through the selection of alcohol using peers in college. Friend use served as a mediator of the relationship between parenting characteristics and alcohol use in a longitudinal college sample. As part of a larger study, 392 incoming college freshmen were assessed for their perceptions of their parent's parenting practices, and peer alcohol use. Results from SEM indicated that friend alcohol use (first semester freshman year) mediated the relationship between parental knowledge about what their teen was doing in his/her free time (baseline pre-matriculation to college) and individual use in college (second semester freshman year). Findings suggest that even at this late stage of early adulthood parents continue to exhibit influence on the choices their teens make as far as friends, which in turn influences their teens' drinking in college. Implications for prevention are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1360-1368
Number of pages9
JournalAddictive Behaviors
Volume33
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2008

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Toxicology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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