Associations Between Parental Drinking and Alcohol Use Among Their Adolescent Children: Findings From a National Survey of United States Parent-Child Dyads

J Adolesc Health. 2023 Nov;73(5):961-964. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.05.028. Epub 2023 Sep 14.

Abstract

Purpose: Underage drinking is common and costly. This study examined associations between parent and child drinking using recent United States national survey data.

Methods: We analyzed responses of 740 parent-child dyads from 2020 SummerStyles and YouthStyles surveys. Parents and their adolescent children answered questions about past 30-day alcohol use. We estimated prevalence of adolescent drinking and explored differences by sociodemographics. A multivariable logistic regression model assessed whether parents' drinking behaviors were associated with drinking among their children.

Results: Overall, 6.6% of adolescents drank alcohol, with no significant differences by sociodemographics. Adolescents whose parents drank frequently (≥5 days/month), or binge drank, had significantly higher odds of drinking than adolescents whose parents did not drink or did not binge drink, respectively.

Discussion: Parents could drink less to reduce the likelihood of drinking among their children. Implementation of effective population-level strategies (e.g., increasing alcohol taxes, regulating alcohol sales) can reduce excessive drinking among both adults and adolescents.

Keywords: Alcohol; Binge drinking; Parents; Underage drinking; Youth; YouthStyles.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
  • Binge Drinking* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Parent-Child Relations
  • Parents
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Underage Drinking*
  • United States / epidemiology