How Parents and Society Encourage, and Could Discourage, Teenage Drinking

Heavy episodic drinking, which has been reported in 5% of 8th graders, increases to 24% by grade 12. Two studies explore the role of parents, who can be important sources of alcohol for underage drinking.

Researchers surveyed attitudes in 490 parents in Australia and Canada toward providing alcohol to their adolescent children at home (37% of parents) or for unsupervised use (11%). Parents were more likely to supply alcohol at home if they believed that other parents, whether friends or strangers, were doing the same thing. Parents were more likely to supply alcohol for unsupervised use if they felt that their friends had positive attitudes toward supplying alcohol in unsupervised settings and that parents whom they did not know were engagin…