title: Protective effects of parent-college student communication during the first semester of college.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies suggest that parents maintain influence as their adolescents transition into college. Advances in communication technology make frequent communication between parents and college students easy and affordable. This study examines the protective effect of parent-college student communication on student drinking behaviors, estimated peak blood alcohol concentration (eBAC), and serious negative consequences of drinking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 746 first-year, first-time, full-time students at a large university in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed a baseline and 14 daily Web-based surveys.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amount of time spent communicating with parents on weekend days predicted the number of drinks consumed, heavy drinking, and peak eBAC, consistent with a protective within-person effect. No association between communication and serious negative consequences was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Encouraging parents to communicate with their college students, particularly on weekend days, could be a relatively simple, easily implemented protective process to reduce dangerous drinking behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Meg L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Small
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abar
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Maggs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication; D003142:Communication; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult