title: Parental knowledge of alcohol consumption: a cross sectional survey of 11-17 year old schoolchildren and their parents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Developing timely and effective strategies for preventing alcohol misuse in young people is required in order to prevent related harms since, worldwide, alcohol consumption was associated with 320,000 deaths amongst 15-29 year olds in 2004. Providing guidance and advice to parents is essential if alcohol misuse is to be reduced. However, prevention of risky behaviours is hampered if parents are unaware of the risks involved.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional school-based survey of parent-child dyads, simultaneously questioning 935 children aged 11-17 years old and their parent(s). Univariate and multivariate associations are reported between demography, alcohol behaviours and parental knowledge of their child's alcohol consumption.
  
  
  RESULTS
  41.1% (n = 384) of children reported drinking alcohol. Of these, 79.9% of their parents were aware of their child's alcohol consumption. Children aged 11-14 years had over a twofold greater odds of consuming alcohol without parental knowledge compared with 15-17 year olds (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3-5.7). Of parent-child dyads where the child reported consuming alcohol, 92.7% of parents reported that they had spoken to their child about alcohol at least once in the past three months, whereas 57.3% of their children reported that this had occurred. Children who consumed alcohol and whose parents did not know they drank alcohol were less likely to report having a parental discussion about alcohol in the last three months (AOR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1-1.0) or report lifetime receipt of at least one other parenting protective measure (AOR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.2-0.9) compared with those children who drank alcohol with parental knowledge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whilst only small numbers of young adolescents in our sample were drinking alcohol compared with older adolescents, those who did were more likely to do so without their parents' knowledge. These two factors combined (drinking earlier and drinking without parental knowledge) could place children at risk of immediate harm. Further research is essential to identify whether public health strategies should be developed which could support parents to employ lifestyle parenting techniques even before the parent believes the child to be at risk.
authors: Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus (second floor), 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK. m.j.morleo@ljmu.ac.uk.
authors: Michela
authors: M
authors: Morleo
authors: Penny A
authors: PA
authors: Cook
authors: Gill
authors: G
authors: Elliott
authors: Penelope A
authors: PA
authors: Phillips-Howard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D055815:Young Adult
references: Addiction. 2007 Oct;102(10):1597-608
references: 17854336
references: J Adolesc Health. 2011 Feb;48(2):212-4
references: 21257123
references: Am J Public Health. 2005 May;95(5):887-93
references: 15855470
references: BMC Public Health. 2009 Oct 09;9:380
references: 19818118
references: J Adolesc Health. 2006 Apr;38(4):448-50
references: 16549310
references: Pediatrics. 2003 May;111(5 Pt 1):949-55
references: 12728070
references: Addiction. 2005 Oct;100(10):1464-76
references: 16185208
references: Addict Behav. 2011 Mar;36(3):209-16
references: 21084165
references: J Community Health. 2008 Dec;33(6):425-33
references: 18607698
references: Addiction. 2004 Aug;99(8):1024-33
references: 15265099
references: Health Promot Pract. 2010 May;11(3 Suppl):70S-8S
references: 20488971
references: Addict Behav. 2007 May;32(5):1016-30
references: 16952426
references: Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2007 May 10;2:15
references: 17493261
references: Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2010 Nov 10;5:27
references: 21067562
references: BMC Public Health. 2010 Sep 10;10:547
references: 20831810
references: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2012 Jul;53(7):798-805
references: 22329834
references: J Adolesc Health. 2004 Oct;35(4):345.e17-26
references: 15830441
references: J Adolesc Health. 2010 May;46(5):451-7
references: 20413081
references: Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Apr 1;108(1-2):56-64
references: 20080363
references: J Adolesc Health. 2008 May;42(5):496-502
references: 18407045
references: Bull World Health Organ. 2020 Mar 1;98(3):222-223
references: 32132758
references: J Adolesc Health. 2009 Jan;44(1):73-80
references: 19101461
references: Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2010 Jun 22;5:12
references: 20569480
references: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007 Feb;86(2):189-99
references: 17222895