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(URI News) Studies suggest that parents continue to exert significant influence over their children’s behavior even into the college years, and that extends into the choices they make regarding substance use and other risky behaviors. When parents encourage, or at least don’t discourage, underage drinking, their children tend to drink more, which can lead to further consequences, according to a recent University of Rhode Island College of Nursing student study.
Ph.D. students Devon Carroll and Somatra Connolly — both Cynthia & Thomas Sculco Graduate Nursing Research scholars — examined the parental provision of alcohol to college students, and the impact that has on student binge drinking and other risky behaviors, particularly among women, who are especially vulnerable to adverse experiences from risk-taking behaviors. They found that when parents give their college-age children alcohol, those students tend to engage in binge drinking more frequently, which can lead to other negative outcomes.
“To date, no studies have directly examined the association between the parental provision of alcohol to college students and their subsequent alcohol use, sexual risk and other adverse experiences,” wrote the students, who presented their analysis at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Annual Conferencein Long Beach, Calif, winning a second-place award. “The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parental provision of alcohol and alcohol use and binge drinking in female college students. Binge drinking was also explored as a predictor for other risk behaviors and negative health outcomes.”