Parent-Child Relationships and Substance Use in Adolescence

Past research has often suggested parent-child connectedness and communication to be important for the prevention of substance, particularly alcohol, misuse among adolescents. A new study recently published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy builds on this knowledge.

It offers a literature review to determine exactly which factors of parent-child connectedness and substance-use-specific communication are effective in tackling adolescent alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse. The authors of the study concluded that:

• Open communication is characteristic of high connectedness between parent and child
• Talking about the associated health risks is linked with lower levels of substance abuse
• Parents talking about their own use in the past, or providing lax messages about substances and their consequences, are associated with higher levels of misuse
• Alcohol and tobacco are easier topics to talk about while drugs are rarely discussed
• Parental alcohol and tobacco use impacts negatively on the credibility of their professed health messages
• Parents should have open, credible and constructive two-way dialogues with their children about substance use

Click here to read the full review in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy.