Prevention Works!

Developing Underage Drinking Strategies for Adults

The influential adults in a youth’s life are an important target for prevention efforts. In 1996, research conducted by Wagenaar and colleagues at the University of Minnesota found that the community and social environments play important roles in facilitating underage drinking. Therefore, program managers and school administrators must develop strategies that extend beyond the youth population itself.

Parental Involvement

Strategies that emphasize parental involvement are the single-most effective approach to deterring underage drinking. Countless studies have shown that parental attitudes regarding alcohol use can influence a youth’s drinking behavior. In particular, a 1998 study conducted by Reifman and colleagues at the Research Institute on Addictions in Buffalo, NY, found that parental monitoring is one of the most important elements in deterring heavier drinking by adolescents. Therefore, prevention strategies must be developed that target the parent/child relationship. Such strategies may include:

• Enhancing five key dimensions of communication between parents and youth: frequency and depth, style, content, timing, and context (Jaccard & Turrisi, 1999).
• Encouraging parents to monitor and control alcohol in the home.
• Developing educational materials that teach parents effective ways to convince their teenager not to drink.
• Helping parents clarify expectations and familial norms.

Adults in the Community

Addressing the availability of alcohol to underage drinkers is a key part of any prevention strategy. By involving the adults in the community who interact with the teenager, prevention program managers and school administrators can tap into an influential resource. Potential strategies may include:

• Developing policies aimed at increasing the liability of adults who provide alcohol to teenagers.
• Discouraging adults from supplying alcohol to underage drinkers.
• Limiting advertising of alcohol products.
• Enlisting adults to monitor alcohol restrictions at community events.
• Encouraging commercial outlet owners to develop strict internal policies with active monitoring of employees to deter the sale of alcohol to minors.
• Providing responsible beverage service training to community members.
• Educating the community through workshops, town meetings, and presentations on how they can help to deter underage drinking.
• Encouraging law enforcement personnel to work with program managers, school administrators, and parents in the enforcement of the 21 drinking age law.
• Enlisting law enforcement personnel to serve as a resource for parents and schools.
• Designing media campaigns that address youths’ perception that consumption of alcohol is "cool."

For more information on underage drinking, contact SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at ncadi.samhsa.gov.

Sources:

Allen, B., Anglin, L., & Giesbrecht, N. (1998). Effects of others drinking as perceived by community members. Can J Public Health, 89(5), 337–341.

Grube, J. W. (1997). Preventing sales of alcohol to minors: results from a community trial. Addiction, 92(Suppl. 2), S251–260.

Jaccard, J., & Turrisi, R. (1999). Parent-based intervention strategies to reduce adolescent alcohol-impaired driving. J Stud Alcohol Suppl, 13, 84–93.

Reifman, A., Barnes, G. M., Dintcheff, B. A., Farrell, M. P., & Uhteg, L. (1998). Parental and peer influences on the onset of heavier drinking among adolescents. J Stud Alcohol, 59(3), 311–317.

Schor, E. L. (1996). Adolescent alcohol use: social determinants and the case for early family-centered prevention. Family-focused prevention of adolescent drinking. Bull N Y Acad Med, 73(2), 335–356.

Wagenaar, A. C., Toomey, T. L., Murray, D. M., Short, B. J., Wolfson, M., & Jones-Webb, R. (1996). Sources of alcohol for underage drinkers. J Stud Alcohol, 57(3), 325–333.

Yu, J. (1998). Perceived parental/peer attitudes and alcohol-related behaviors: an analysis of the impact of the drinking age law. Subst Use Misuse, 33(14), 2687–2702.

For more information, visit SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information Web site at http://ncadi.samhsa.gov or call toll-free 1-800-729-6686.

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PREVENTIONAlert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without permission with appropriate citation. For information about PREVENTIONAlert, please contact CSAP by phone (301) 443-0581 or e-mail gensley@samhsa.gov

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