The bi-directional relationship between parental alcohol-specific socialization practices and adolescent weekly drinking, and the role of obedience

Abstract

The current study investigated the interaction between adolescent weekly drinking and parental alcohol-specific socialization practices. Participants were early adolescents (N = 906) and one of their parents. Longitudinal data from multiple informants were used. Results showed that alcohol-specific rules can prevent early adolescents from becoming a weekly drinker. However, frequent alcohol-specific communication encourages adolescents to start drinking. As soon as adolescents consume alcohol on a weekly basis, parents become more lenient. Although alcohol-specific rules decline, parents stay more strict to disobedient adolescents than obedient adolescents. For future campaigns or interventions, it is recommended to keep focusing on alcohol-specific rules. Additionally, the quality and content of alcohol-specific communication might be important, rather than the frequency of these conversations. Further, it would be interesting to incorporate adolescent obedience in future research more often, to explore the role of this adolescent characteristic in more detail.