Lost in translation: a focus group study of parents’ and adolescents’ interpretations of underage drinking and parental supply

Abstract

BackgroundReductions in underage drinking will only come about from changes in the social and cultural environment. Despite decades of messages discouraging parental supply, parents perceive social norms supportive of allowing children to consume alcohol in ‘safe’ environments.MethodsTwelve focus groups conducted in a regional community in NSW, Australia; four with parents of teenagers (n = 27; 70 % female) and eight with adolescents (n = 47; 55 % female). Participants were recruited using local media. Groups explored knowledge and attitudes and around alcohol consumption by, and parental supply of alcohol to, underage teenagers; and discussed materials from previous campaigns targeting adolescents and parents.ResultsParents and adolescents perceived teen drinking to be a common behaviour within the community, but applied moral judgements to these behaviours. Younger adolescents expressed more negative views of teen drinkers and parents who supply alcohol than older adolescents. Adolescents and parents perceived those who ‘provide alcohol’ (other families) as bad parents, and those who ‘teach responsible drinking’ (themselves) as good people. Both groups expressed a preference for high-fear, victim-blaming messages that targeted ‘those people’ whose behaviours are problematic.ConclusionsIn developing and testing interventions to address underage drinking, it is essential to ensure the target audience perceive themselves to be the target audience. If we do not have a shared understanding of underage ‘drinking’ and parental ‘provision’, such messages will continue to be perceived by parents who are trying to do the ‘right’ thing as targeting a different behaviour and tacitly supporting their decision to provide their children with alcohol.

Child‐parent agreement on alcohol‐related parenting: Opportunities for prevention of alcohol‐related harm

“…Agreement on alcohol‐specific communication and rule‐setting across year levels increased with age, with children in Years 7 and 10 more likely than those in Year 12 to report these had occurred even though their parents did not report the same. In keeping with the findings reported above by Jones et al, the misalignment for the younger children may reflect their awareness of general societal expectations of nondrinking among children and assumptions about their parents’ expectations or rules, rather than explicit communication. Similarly, the higher concordance in Year 12 may be an indication that parents actively increase explicit communication regarding expectations and rules as young people are more exposed to alcohol in social situations and more likely to drink alcohol .…”

“…As young people become more exposed to a culture of alcohol use, in the absence of clear parental communication of expectations, their experiences and own expectations may lead them to assume their parents are more supportive of use than they actually are. This possibility is supported by qualitative findings reported from a study of parents and adolescents in New South Wales, with younger (12‐ to 14‐year‐old) adolescents being clearly negative against underage drinking and parental supply of alcohol, while older adolescents (aged 16‐17 years) did not apply simple negative adjectives to drinkers and positive to nondrinkers . This study also reported comments by adolescents that their parents allowed them to have sips or tastes of alcohol, which they viewed as “teaching them to drink,” but which they did not view as actual drinking experiences or having been “provided with alcohol.” These nuanced views, discrepancies between adolescent and parent report, and change over time in adolescents’ perceptions are all consistent with the findings of the present study.…”

‘Hidden Habitus’: A Qualitative Study of Socio-Ecological Influences on Drinking Practices and Social Identity in Mid-Adolescence

“…In addition to peer networks, young people drew on their parents when developing new drinking practices ( ‘Dad told me how to make Moscow Mules…’ —Male, aged 15). Young people regularly discussed drinking with their parents, suggesting that their parents encouraged them to drink sensibly, and to try alcohol at an early age, in order to eradicate the mystique around drinking alcohol, and as a ‘least worst’ strategy in comparison to smoking and drug taking, findings which accord well with other studies of parental influence on adolescent alcohol use [50,51]: ‘they basically told me just...what’s out there and they tried to introduce me at a young a...just saying no you can have a sip of my wine or whatever so that...the first time you do it, it wouldn’t be like something new that you just go out and do it loads because you’ve never done it before’ —Male, aged 17. …”

When are they old enough to drink? Outcomes of an Australian social marketing intervention targeting alcohol initiation

“…This is an important distinction from other community approaches, as the intervention included targeted messages, events and activities specific to each group and key community project partners included local youth workers, teachers, community and sporting organisations and local police. Details of insights relating to parent perceptions of adolescent drinking, including appropriate ages and places, have been published elsewhere and were critical to the development and implementation of messages and strategies in a multi‐phased process. The baseline and process evaluation findings have also been previously reported.…”