260021 Impact of parenting practices on the trajectory of alcohol purchasing behaviors through late childhood

Monday, October 29, 2012

Kuang-Hung Chen, MSc , Institute of Public Health, National Yan-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Chieh-Yu Liu, PhD , Department of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan
Yun-Chen Lin, BSc , Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Ying-Ying Chen, BSc , Institute of Public Health, National Yan-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Wei J. Chen, MD, ScD , College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei City 100, Taiwan
Keh-Ming Lin, MD, MPH , Division of Mental Health and Addiction Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli county, Taiwan
Chuan-Yu Chen, PhD , Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Objectives: Easy access to alcoholic beverages has been independently linked with alcohol initiation and problematic drinking in underage population. We examined how parenting practices may influence the trajectory of alcohol purchasing behaviors during the transition from childhood to early adolescence.

Methods: A total of 836 4th-graders, ascertained via multistage probability sampling from 16 public elementary schools in the northern Taiwan in 2006 (T0, mean age=10 years), were followed up on three waves (T1-T3) during 2006-2008. Data concerning sociodemographic background, parenting practices, alcohol purchase and drinking were collected via paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaires. Group-based trajectory analyses were performed to identify trajectory groups of past-year alcohol purchasers between 4th and 6th grade, and the association with multidimensional parenting practices was determined by logistic regression.

Results: The prevalence of recent alcohol purchase is 4.3% at 4th, 6.1% at 5th, and 7.6% at 6th grade, respectively. Three major groups of alcohol purchasers were identified: never (85.5%wt), emerging (6.4%wt), and persistent (10.8%wt). Children with higher levels of parental coercive discipline were at 3-fold risk to be an emerging alcohol purchaser, and the risk for those with parental involvement/reinforcement was lowered by 44%. With adjustment for individual and family characteristics, coercive discipline appeared as a salient predictor of emerging alcohol purchase (adjusted odds ratio=2.6~3.3).

Conclusions: Parenting practices in childhood likely affect the chance to access alcoholic beverages during the transition to early adolescence—a period for the escalation of alcohol initiation. This study may provide implications for family-centered preventive programs targeting at reducing underage drinking problems.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Demonstrate the importance of access to alcoholic beverages in underage population. 2. Identify trajectory groups of past-year alcohol purchasers between 4th and 6th grade. 3. Evaluate the association between multidimensional parenting practices and trajectory of alcohol purchasing behaviors during the transition from childhood to early adolescence.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I took part in data collection, conducted all the analyses and interpreted the results, and this topic is part of my research of interest for dissertation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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