Gender Difference in Adolescent Alcohol Use: Role of Parents

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of father and mother alcohol use and attitudes toward underage drinking on alcohol use in male and female adolescents. Method: Data for this study came from the Child and Adolescent Behaviors in Long-term Evolution (CABLE) project in 2006 and 2009. A total of 3972 participants were analyzed. Study variables included: adolescent’s current alcohol use; father and mother alcohol use; father and mother attitudes toward underage drinking. Control variables included cohort; age at first drink of alcohol; parent’s supervision; alcohol expectancies; alcohol refusal efficacy; peers’ alcohol use; peers’ encouragement of drinking. Logistic regression was used for the study. Results: In male students, 369 (18.46%) reported to use alcohol last month. In female students, 310 (15.71%) reported to use alcohol last month. Among male students, significant factors associated with alcohol use were father’s alcohol use (OR:1.58; 95%CI:1.12-2.30); father’s attitude toward underage drinking (OR:1.58; 95%CI:1.21-2.06). Among female students, significant factors associated with alcohol use were mother’s alcohol use(OR:2.19;95%CI:1.08-4.47); mother’s attitude toward underage drinking(OR:1.54;95% CI:1.16-2.05). Father’s alcohol use and attitude toward underage drinking were not significantly associated with female students’ alcohol use, on the other hand, mother’s alcohol use and attitude toward underage drinking were not significantly related with male students’ alcohol use. Conclusion: Parents play an important role in preventive adolescent alcohol use. This study demonstrated that adolescent alcohol use affect by same-sex parents’ alcohol use and attitude. These results suggest that prevention on underage drinking should be gender-specific.