Parent–teen communication and pre-college alcohol involvement: A latent class analysis

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.07.044

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 36, Issue 12, December 2011, Pages 1357-1360

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.07.044 Get rights and content

Abstract

Although parent–adolescent communication has been identified as important in delaying the onset and escalation of alcohol use, both the strength and direction of observed associations have varied in prior research with adolescents and college students. The current study categorizes parents according to alcohol-related communication and relates these categories to other parenting factors and late adolescent alcohol involvement.

Method

As part of a larger study, 1007 college-bound teens and their parents were assessed. Teens were asked to report on their drinking behavior, and parents were asked about the occurrence of several specific alcohol-related communications with their teen, as well as additional parenting characteristics. Profiles of parent alcohol-related communication were derived using latent class analysis. Once the best fitting solution was determined, covariates were entered predicting class membership and investigating how classes were associated with additional parenting characteristics and teen alcohol use.

Results

A five-class solution provided the best fit to the data: Frequent, All Topics (28%); Moderate, All Topics (25%); Frequent, General Topics (25%); Frequent, Consequences and Limits (12%); and Infrequent, All Topics (10%). Covariate analyses demonstrated class differences with regard to parental modeling, monitoring, knowledge, and parent–teen relationship satisfaction, as well as for students' intentions to join fraternities/sororities and alcohol use.

Conclusions

Findings from the current study add to a small but growing literature supporting the continuing influence of parents in late adolescence and suggest that the frequency and specificity of parent–teen communication are potentially informative for refined parent-based preventive interventions.

Highlights

► Performed latent class analysis on 1,007 college-bound teens and their parents. ► Identified five distinct patterns of alcohol-related parent-teen communication. ► 90% of parents discussed all topics with at least moderate frequency. ► Parents who frequently discussed all topics tended to model alcohol use the least. ► Profiles also differed on monitoring, relationship satisfaction, and teen drinking.

Introduction

Familial factors have been ubiquitous in attempts to understand adolescent development and inform effective intervention (Masten & Shaffer, 2006). Parental monitoring, knowledge, permissiveness for drinking, and disapproval of drinking have demonstrated associations with alcohol use and consequences in both cross-sectional (e.g., Chen et al., 2008, Sessa, 2005) and prospective (e.g., Abar and Turrisi, 2008, Walls et al., 2009, White et al., 2006) research. Although parent–adolescent communication is also thought to be protective against drinking, both the strength and direction of associations have varied in both younger (Ennett et al., 2001, van der Vorst et al., 2005) and older (Turrisi et al., 2000, Turrisi et al., 2007) adolescents. Given the null or modest effects to date for parent-based alcohol interventions with college students emphasizing communication (Ichiyama et al., 2009, Turrisi et al., 2009, Turrisi et al., 2001, Wood et al., 2010), refined knowledge of specific aspects of alcohol-related communication could inform intervention revision.

Accordingly, this study applied a person-centered approach, latent class analysis (LCA), to the examination of specific communication patterns of parents and their college matriculating teens. We asked: 1) What patterns of alcohol-related communication are reported by parents of pre-college students? 2) How might these patterns be associated with other relevant parenting characteristics (e.g., parental monitoring)? 3) How might these communication patterns be differentially associated with late adolescent alcohol use and intended selection into the fraternity/sorority (“Greek”) system, which is consistently predictive of alcohol-related problems in college (McCabe et al., 2005, Park et al., 2009)?

Section snippets

Participants

A sample of 1007 incoming student–parent dyads at a large northeastern university was recruited as part of a larger randomized control trial aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm in college (Wood et al., 2010). Eligible participants were incoming students between 17 and 21 years of age, with parental consent for those under 18. Students received $30 and parents received $40 for participation. The average age was 18.4 years (SD = .41), 57% was female, 89% was White/Caucasian, and approximately 84%

Preliminary analysis

Results revealed at least 90% of the parents endorsed either a moderate amount or a great deal of discussion on items 1–7 listed in Table 1.

Latent class analysis

A five-class solution fit the data best, as indicated by the lowest BIC and a significant aLRT. The first class (28% of the population) was labeled the Frequent, All Topics class (see Table 1). Parents in this class were the most likely to endorse a great deal of communication on each of the nine indicators. The second class (25%) was labeled the Moderate,

Discussion

Extending previous variable-centered data analytic approaches, this study is, to our knowledge, the first application of LCA to parent reports of alcohol-related communication. In general, it appears that the majority of parents in this sample report a moderate to high amount of communication with their teens regarding college alcohol use, with specific attention on potential dangers and the importance of avoiding peer pressure. These findings are encouraging for the involvement of parents in

Conclusions

In spite of these limitations, findings from the current study support the continuing influence of parents in late adolescence and imply that the frequency, specificity, and quality (see Otten, Harakeh, Vermulst, Van den Eijnden, & Engels, 2007) of parent–teen communication are informative for parent-based preventive interventions. As recognized in the earlier adolescent literature (Ennett et al., 2001), multi-dimensional assessment of communication, as well as the incorporation of elements of

Role of funding sources

Funding for this study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to C. Abar (F31 AA018063-01) and M. Wood (R01 AA013919). NIAAA had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Contributors

Author Wood designed the study and wrote the protocol. Author Fernandez assisted in data collection and study organization. Author Abar conducted literature searches and provided summaries of previous research studies, conducted the statistical analysis, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to editing and refining the paper and have approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors are connected in any way to the alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical, or gaming industry. None of the authors have any conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to C. Abar (F31 AA018063-01) and M. Wood (R01 AA013919).

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Short CommunicationParent–teen communication and pre-college alcohol involvement: A latent class analysis

Abstract

Method

Results

Conclusions

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Participants

Preliminary analysis

Latent class analysis

Discussion

Conclusions

Role of funding sources

Contributors

Conflict of interest

Acknowledgments

Addictive Behaviors

Accident Analysis and Prevention

Authoritarian v. authoritative parental control

Adolescence

Social determinants of alcohol consumption: The effects of social interaction and model status on the self-administration of alcohol

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Parenting style as context: An integrative model

Psychological Bulletin

Parent–child communication about adolescent tobacco and alcohol use: What do parents say and how does it affect youth behavior

Journal of Marriage and the Family

A randomized trial of a parent-based intervention on drinking behaviors among incoming college freshmen

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Supplement

Testing the number of components in a normal mixture

Biometrika

How families matter in child development: Reflections from research on risk and resilience. (pp. 5–25)

Selection and socialization effects of fraternities and sororities on US college student substance use:A multi-cohort national longitudinal study

Addiction

Mplus User's Guide

Frequency and quality of parental communication as antecedents of adolescence smoking cognitions and smoking onset

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

Short Communication
Parent–teen communication and pre-college alcohol involvement: A latent class analysis