Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105501

Jennifer Boyle, PhD, MS, Department of Health Science, State University of New York @ Brockport, 350 New Campus Drive, Brockport, NY 14420, 585-395-2764, jboyle@brockport.edu and Bradley Boekeloo, PhD, MS, Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland, College of Health and Human Performance, College Park, MD 20742.

There is a paucity of research investigating the impact that parents may have on college drinking. This study investigated the relationship between students' perceptions of parent approval of drinking and problem drinking occurrence. A web-based survey was conducted among 265 first year students living on the campus of a mid-Atlantic university during their second semester. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between students' perceptions of their mother's and father's attitudes toward their drinking, their mother's and father's drinking habits and problem drinking since they had begun college. Sixty-nine percent of respondents reported experiencing at least one drinking problem. Over a third of students perceived that their parents would approve of them drinking occasionally. Students perceiving more maternal approval for their drinking were more likely to report at least one drinking problem (OR=1.54, 95% CI 1.24, 1.91). Student's perception of maternal approval of their drinking warrants further investigation as a potentially mutable correlate of problem drinking.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Participants will be able to discuss the influence of parents on college students’ drinking behavior
• 2) Participants will be able to describe student perceptions of parental approval
• 3) Participants will be able to describe rates of problem drinking among college students

Keywords: College Students, Alcohol

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.