title: Parents' and students' reports of parenting: which are more reliably associated with college student drinking?
abstract: Recent efforts to reduce college student heavy episodic drinking have examined parental influences, with the goal of continually refining parent-based interventions (PBIs). This research has primarily relied on student-reported data, which is often cited as a methodological limitation although the degree to which parent- and student-reported data on parenting behaviors correspond is unknown. The goals of the present study were to assess the level of consistency between parent- and student-reported data for commonly examined parenting constructs and compare their associations with college student drinking. Data were collected from a sample of 145 parent-student dyads using a longitudinal design. At baseline, parents and students reported on parental monitoring, approval of light and moderate/heavy drinking, and permissiveness. At a 10-month follow up, students reported on their typical weekly drinking and consequences. Parents' and students' reports of parenting behavior at baseline were compared and their associations with student drinking and consequences at follow up were assessed. Agreement between parents' and students' reports of parenting was fair to moderate, with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from .34 to .61. Student-reported data were more reliably associated with student drinking at follow up. Studies examining parent influences on college student drinking, including research on PBIs, do not appear to be limited by using student-reported data. Implications for future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, 315 East Health and Human Development, University Park, PA 16802, United States. lvweld@psu.edu
authors.forename: Lindsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Varvil-Weld
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turrisi
authors.forename: Nichole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scaglione
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Mallett
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010541:Permissiveness; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*