title: Alcohol abstinence or harm-reduction? Parental messages for college-bound light drinkers.
abstract: Parental communications about alcohol can have a significant impact on college students' alcohol use; however, it is unclear what types of communication may be most beneficial for reducing alcohol risk, particularly among students who have already initiated alcohol use. The present research examines differences in alcohol use and employment of drinking protective behavioral strategies between pre-college matriculation high school seniors receiving predominantly abstinence parent messaging and students primarily receiving harm-reduction parent messaging. Students who identified as light drinkers were recruited during their last month in high school and completed an online assessment of alcohol use and parent alcohol communication. Analyses revealed that, in comparison to light drinkers who primarily received harm-reduction messaging from parents, light drinkers who received more abstinence messaging reported less frequent alcohol use, lower peak alcohol consumption, and greater use of protective drinking strategies aimed at changing the way they drank and avoiding serious hazards associated with drinking. Findings from this study underscore the utility of messages related to abstinence even for parents who are aware that their children have had previous experiences with alcohol and highlight the need for longitudinal research assessing additional mechanisms associated with message efficacy among light, moderate and heavy drinking students transitioning to college.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045, United States. Electronic address: jlabrie@lmu.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: LaBrie
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045, United States.
authors.forename: Sarah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, United States.
authors.forename: Lucy E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Napper
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D064829:Alcohol Abstinence / Q000523:psychology*; D000067292:Alcohol Drinking in College / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D000066608:Underage Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Alcohol use; Parent communication; Pre-college alcohol involvement