University students' alcohol consumption: Combined influence of parents and peers

Abstract

Alcohol although legal has been identified as the most commonly used and misused drug in Australia. University students are large consumers of alcohol and at risk of alcohol-related harm. Therefore, there is a need to understand factors that both encourage and discourage this use. However, the body of literature concerning consumption in Australian University students is limited. Moreover, within this literature there is debate surrounding the relative influence of two key social factors; parents and peers. The current study aimed to examine the combined influence of parents and peers, predicting that when combined, peers would exert a greater influence on the participants‟ consumption, however this would not negate the influence of parents. The participants were 59 males and 174 females aged 18-21 years. They completed an online survey about their own alcohol attitudes and alcohol consumption and their perceptions of their; best friend‟s, the average university student‟s, their mother‟s and their father‟s alcohol consumption and alcohol attitudes. The main dependent variable was their own consumption, with the independent variables being perceived peers‟ and parents‟ consumption and attitudes. Correlation analyses were used to determine the individual parental and peer effects (both consumption and attitudes) on the participant‟s alcohol consumption. Positive associations existed between the participant‟s own consumption and the individual consumption and attitudes of their parents and peers (as perceived by the participant). However, the main hypothesis was unsupported as a multiple regression indicated that when parental and peer variables were combined, none of the parental variables (mother‟s use, father‟s use and the two attitudinal variables– parental permissiveness and parental disapproval) significantly affected the participants‟ consumption level. These findings, (that peers negate the influences of parents), have implications for preventative and intervention programs suggesting such programs should incorporate aspects related to minimising the social influence of peers alone.