Associations Between Parental Drinking and Alcohol Use Among Their Adolescent Children: Findings From a National Survey of United States Parent-Child Dyads

Abstract

PurposeUnderage drinking is common and costly. This study examined associations between parent and child drinking using recent United States national survey data. MethodsWe analyzed responses of 740 parent-child dyads from 2020 SummerStyles and YouthStyles surveys. Parents and their adolescent children answered questions about past 30-day alcohol use. We estimated prevalence of adolescent drinking and explored differences by sociodemographics. A multivariable logistic regression model assessed whether parents' drinking behaviors were associated with drinking among their children. ResultsOverall, 6.6% of adolescents drank alcohol, with no significant differences by sociodemographics. Adolescents whose parents drank frequently (≥5 days/month), or binge drank, had significantly higher odds of drinking than adolescents whose parents did not drink or did not binge drink, respectively. DiscussionParents could drink less to reduce the likelihood of drinking among their children. Implementation of effective population-level strategies (e.g., increasing alcohol taxes, regulating alcohol sales) can reduce excessive drinking among both adults and adolescents.