Parenting style can influence teen drinking habits

By Staff Writer

Parents play a significant role in alcohol abuse among teenagers, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

NPR reports that researchers at Brigham Young University found that adolescents who grow up with parents who are either too strict or too indulgent about alcohol are more likely to binge drink than their peers. The author of the study said that parents do not have much of an effect on whether their kids try alcohol, but they can have an impact on the amount of alcohol their teens drink.

Researchers surveyed approximately 5,000 teenagers, asking them about their alcohol use and their parents. Teens who were raised by parents who gave them lots of praise and warmth - and who didn't monitor bad behavior - were about three times more likely to participate in heavy drinking. Kids who had parents that were very strict and rarely allowed them to make their own decisions were twice as likely to binge drink, the report found.

According to the news provider, the study revealed that parents who borrowed something from each of the extremes had children who were the least likely to have problem teens who drink heavily.

The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 24 percent of high school students had engaged in binge drinking within 30 days of taking the survey.