Social determinants of adolescent drinking; what they think, what they do and what I think and do.

Abstract

A 6-factor model for the study of the social determinants of adolescent drinking is proposed, and results of a study investigating the influence of these factors (parental norms, peer norms, parental behavior, peer behavior, adolescents'' own norms and adolescents'' own preferences) on 149 public high-school students (74 girls) in a midwestern state are reported. Data collected during individual interviews with the participants indicated 3 major trends: in contrast to the findings of previous studies, the present study indicated that adolescents'' preferences were a stronger predictor of drinking behavior than were their norms; parents seem more likely to affect adolescents through normative standards, peers through modeling behavior; and although parents and peers influence adolescent drinking, that influence is not directed but effected largely through adolescents'' own preferences and norms. The results were also analyzed for subgroups based on age, sex, race and social class and these demographic factors had considerable effect on adolescent drinking. The present study is compared with other studies of adolescent drinking, and the practical implications of the findings are discussed.