The Association Between Parent Communication and College Freshmen's Alcohol Use

Abstract

Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 265 first-year college students to determine if parent-student alcohol communication is associated with college drinking or drinking consequences and if this relationship is mediated by students’ parental subjective norms, attitudes toward drinking, and perceived risk. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Students whose parents talked with them more about the negative effects of alcohol reported more extensive college drinking (ß = 0.12, p < 0.05). Favorable alcohol attitudes were significantly related to both more extensive college drinking (ß = 0.49, p < 0.05) and more drinking consequences (ß = 0.39, p < 0.05). Lower reported perceived risk was significantly related to more drinking consequences (ß = –0.24, p < 0.05). Findings indicate that parental communication regarding the negative effects of alcohol may be ineffective at reducing college drinking or drinking consequences.