We all know that teens’ parents and friends can have a big influence on their decisions about drinking, but did you know that their friends’ parents can also have a big impact?
A report recently published in the online edition of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine suggests that mothers who are authoritative (that is, they balance nurturing and responsiveness with setting and holding their kids accountable for high expectations) with their teen children also influence the behavior of their teens' friends.
The study found that if an adolescent had a friend with an authoritative mother, that adolescent was 40% less likely to drink to the point of drunkenness and 38% less likely to binge drink than an adolescent who had a friend with a neglectful mother.
The indirect positive effects of authoritative parenting in reducing behaviors associated with underage drinking emphasizes our need to provide the Power of Parents® handbook and workshops to as many parents as possible. The Power of Parents program provides important tools for parents to help prevent underage drinking in not only their own teens, but also their teens’ friends through authoritative (also known as positive) style parenting.
Read more about this study | Get the Parent Handbook
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