title: Parental monitoring and family relations: associations with drinking patterns among male and female Mexican students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parental monitoring and family relations are recognized as protective factors for youth alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceived parental monitoring and family relations among subgroups of Mexican youths with different patterns of drinking behaviors and consequences.
  
  
  METHODS
  A latent profile analysis (LPA) identified profiles of drinking behavior in a cross-sectional survey of entering first year university students. Multinomial regression examined associations between parental monitoring, family relations and drinking profiles among 22,224 students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both lower perceived parental monitoring and weaker perceived family relations were associated with heavier drinking profiles among males and females, but more strongly associated with female than male heavier drinking profiles. Being older, having parents with lower education, and not living with parents were also associated with lower parental monitoring and weaker family relations. There was a general trend of lower parental monitoring and weaker family relations as the profiles increased from Non/Infrequent-No Consequences to Excessive-Many Consequences Drinkers. Lower perceived parental monitoring and weaker perceived family relations were more strongly associated with drinking profiles among females than among males. Both the parental monitoring and family relations scales had similar associations with drinking profiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that drinking norms and values may contribute to any protective influences of parental monitoring and family relations on Mexican youths' drinking. Research about changes in drinking norms, contextual factors, and youth-parent trust would inform the utility of parental monitoring or family relations as protective strategies against alcohol misuse among Mexican and Mexican American youths and also youths from other backgrounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: lstrunin@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Strunin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico/National Institute on Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñíz, Calzada México-Xochimilco No. 101, Colonia San Lorenzo Huipulco, Delegacion Tlalpan, México, D.F. 14570, Mexico.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosa Díaz-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Edifico "F" Primer Piso. Circuito Escolar S/N. Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacan, México, D.F. 04510, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Díaz-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heeren
authors.affiliation: Data Coordinating Center, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuranz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Alcohol Research Center, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hernández-Ávila
authors.affiliation: General Medical Services, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Circuito Escolar S-N Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacan, México, D.F. 04510, Mexico.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fernández-Varela
authors.affiliation: General Medical Services, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Circuito Escolar S-N Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacan, México, D.F. 04510, Mexico.
authors.forename: Cuauhtémoc
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solís-Torres
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000067292:Alcohol Drinking in College / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol use; Cultural factors; Family relations; Gender; Mexican youths; Parental monitoring