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Parental attitudes and behaviour concerning adolescent alcohol consumption: do sociodemographic factors matter?

¹ School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
² School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden, Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Örebro, Sweden

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Abstract

Aims: Parental attitudes and behaviour with regard to young people and alcohol are associated with teenagers’ drinking behaviour. This study examined the association between sociodemographic factors among parents and parental attitudes and behaviour with regard to alcohol and adolescents. Methods: Postal questionnaires were sent to parents of children aged 12–16 years in six Swedish municipalities. Seven hundred and ninety-five parents were included in the study. Seven sociodemographic factors and four questions identifying parental attitudes and behaviour were examined. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios and confidence intervals. Results: The study showed that fathers were more likely than mothers to report that children had been drinking or tasting alcohol at home. Parents who answered the questionnaire together also stated that their children had been served alcohol at home to a larger extent than mothers. Fathers, single parents and parents with older children were more likely to have non-restrictive attitudes towards adolescents and alcohol than mothers, parents living in a household with more than one adult, and parents with younger children. Factors such as age of the parents, employment status and numbers of children in the household were not associated with either parental attitudes or behaviour. Conclusions: The sex of the responding parent was the only sociodemographic factor that was associated with both parental attitudes and behaviour. Fathers were more likely than mothers to have a non-restrictive attitude. The fathers also reported to a greater extent than mothers that children had been drinking or tasting alcohol at home.

Key Words: Adolescents, alcohol, attitude, parent, sociodemographic

First published on May 18, 2009, doi:10.1177/1403494809105790

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 2009;37:509.

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2009


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