1. Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, June 1, 2017
Perceived familial permissiveness towards alcohol and high-risk drinking behaviors among college students
Jessica Duncan Cance, MPH, PhD
Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist
Child and Adolescent Services
Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, June 1, 2017

2. Disclaimer
This presentation is supported by Texas Health and Human Services.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the presenter and do not necessarily represent the views of HHS.

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Background
High-risk alcohol use among college students remains a significant public health issue
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“…this is what they want to know: Are you a Good Parent or a Get-Real Parent?”
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Background
Extensive research supports the importance of familial attitudes towards drinking and alcohol use among adolescents
Less is known about the role of familial permissiveness towards alcohol use and drinking when youth transition to college
Theory of Planned Behavior – subjective norms
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Purpose
To understand how perceived parental permissiveness towards alcohol use in high school is associated with high-risk drinking behaviors among Texas college students
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Source of Data
2015 Texas Survey of Substance Use among College Students (N=20,152)
Undergraduates ages 18 to 26 attending public and private universities, colleges, and community colleges in Texas
64% Female
85% White, 38% Hispanic/Latino
i-stage cluster designed study
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8. Perceived Parental Permissiveness
“Which of the following statements best describes how your family felt about drinking alcohol when you were growing up?”
Didn’t approve
Accepted light drinking, didn’t approve heavy drinking
Accepted heavy drinking
No agreement about drinking in the family
Any acceptance (light or heavy) was combined, no agreement was excluded from analyses (approximately 13%)
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9. High-Risk Drinking Behaviors
Past month binge drinking
Past month drunkenness
Past year consequences associated with drinking
Past year drinking and driving
4/5 drinks
Drink enough to feel drunk
Consequences included feeling hungover, scholastic consequences such as missing class or being behind in schoolwork, unplanned or unprotected sex, getting in trouble with campus or law enforcement, getting hurt, damaging property, or needing medical treatment
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Control Variables
Perceived closeness
“How would you describe your relationship with your parents?”
Demographics
Gender
Race/ethnicity
Year in school
Great – we get along nearly all the time
Good – we get along most of the time
So-So – we get along sometimes
Not too good – we don’t get along most of the time
Terrible – we don’t get along at all
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Analyses
Series of logistic regression models using SAS 9.4
Survey analysis procedures used to account for intracampus clustering
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Results
4/5 drinks – 39%
Drink enough to feel drunk – 38%
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Results
Perceived parental permissiveness towards alcohol use was significantly related to all high-risk drinking behaviors OR
(95% CI)
Heavy Drinking
1.498
(1.327 – 1.690)
Binge Drinking
1.806
(1.642 – 1.987)
Drunkenness
1.842
(1.699 – 1.996)
Drinking and Driving
1.658
(1.473 – 1.865)
Experienced Drinking-Related Consequences
1.710
(1.587 – 1.842)
Heavy drinking: (1.327 – 1.690)
Binge drinking: (1.642 – 1.987)
Drunkenness: (1.699 – 1.996)
Drinking/driving: (1.473 – 1.865)
Any consequence: (1.587 – 1.842)
Changed drinking since starting college: (.906 – 1.147)
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Conclusions
Perceptions of family attitudes towards alcohol use matter
Efforts to reduce risky alcohol use should consider the continued importance of the family context
Perceptions that family members are permissive of drinking are related to high-risk drinking among college students
Questions?
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15. Thank you