title: Being Blunt About Marijuana: Parent Communication About Marijuana with Their Emerging Adult Children.
abstract: While research suggests that parents continue to influence students' marijuana use after matriculation to college, there is limited data examining how parents communicate about marijuana use and what impact parent marijuana communication has on college student outcomes. The aim of the current study is to investigate the types of parent marijuana messages that college students receive and the relationship between parent communication and students' marijuana attitudes and behaviors. Students (N = 506) completed a survey assessing marijuana approval, use, negative consequences, and parent communication. A factor analysis of parent communication items yielded three factors: risk communication, permissive communication, and marijuana use communication. Risk communication was the most common form of communication. In multivariate models, risk communication was associated with increased odds of a student remaining abstinent but not with frequency of marijuana use or negative consequences. Greater permissive communication was associated with more approving student attitudes, greater odds of non-abstinence, more frequent use in the past year, and more negative consequences. These findings highlight the need to consider the different types of messages parents deliver when designing interventions aimed at engaging parents in marijuana prevention efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, and Health, Medicine, and Society Program, Lehigh University, 17 Memorial Drive East, Chandler-Ullmann Hall, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA. Lucy.Napper@lehigh.edu.
authors.forename: Lucy E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Napper
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Suite 4700, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Froidevaux
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Suite 4700, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: LaBrie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: College; Marijuana consequences; Marijuana use; Parent communication