Adolescent Alcohol Use and Family Influences ...

Drugs: education, prevention and policy, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1994

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Adolescent Alcohol Use and Family Influences: attributive statements by teenage drinkers

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DAVID R. FOXCROFT,l GEOFF LOWE2 & CARL MAY3 'Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth POI 2ER, 2Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX t3 3Departmenf of General Practice, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK ABSTRACT Although it is now well established that the majority of young people are introduced to alcohol within the family, further understanding is needed of teenagers' own perceptions of drinking behaviour. A s part of a large scale regional survey, young people reported on aspects of their drinking behaviour. This article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of detailed attributive statements made by one randomly chosen group of 15-ldyear-olds. These statements were made at the end of a questionnaire about young people, alcohol and family life, and the statements reflect these issues. On the whole, this sample of adolescents reported drinking sensibly and appropriately, and did not see their drinking as a deviant behaviour. They also commented on several important intra-jamilial factors. The positive role of parental knowledge and sanction, and also of appropriate parental and family drinking, seem important for the development of sensible adolescent alcohol use. Furthermore, the potential negative influence of poor family relationships was highlighted. These family factors are consistent with quantitative data supporting the family socialization theory of adolescent alcohol use. Family social learning and family process seem to be important influences on adolescent alcohol use, and may provide an important base and focus for alcohol education, intervention and treatment strategies.

Introduction Alcohol use and misuse by adolescents is periodically rediscovered as a focus for public controversy, even though in Great Britain alcohol consumption amongst adults is widespread (excluding certain ethnic and religious groups). A number of commentators have pointed to the ways in which adolescent drinking is frequently conceptualised as an act of rebellion or resistance to dominant value systems (Willis, 1978; Dorn, 1983). This view has recently been challenged (Foxcroft & Lowe, 1991,1992a; May, 1992; Sharp & Lowe, 1989).It is argued that adolescent drinking is best viewed not as an act of deviance, but, on the contrary, as appropriate and acceptable behaviour that reflects the wider culture in which it is set. In this context, teenage drinking involves conformity to dominant value systems, that is, it reflects adult norms and practices. In many Western countries, the majority of adolescents under the age of sixteen have some experience of alcohol use. However, only a minority of these could be described as 'problem drinkers' (Marsh et al., 1986).


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It is now well established that the majority of young people are introduced to alcohol within the family (Bagnall, 1991), usually between the ages of 10-12. In the period between 14 and 17 years of age alcohol consumption amongst both males and females accelerates to broadly adult levels (Plant & Plant, 1992). Parental attitudes during this later period are often ambivalent to their child’s drinking outside the domestic setting (Health Education Authority, 1989), and it is certainly the case that in England and Wales the legal constraints on drinking under the age of 18 are widely flouted (Goddard, 1991). Therefore, there appears to be a general social and cultural acceptance of adolescent alcohol use, and teenage drinking may be best \Tiewed as a normative developmental transition. There is, nevertheless, a minority of adolescents who report drinking for inappropriate reasons (Foxcroft & Lowe, 1992b), and as we mentioned above, some teenagers do drink to excess and exhibit alcohol-related problem behaviours (Marsh et nl., 1986). Furthermore, there is some evidence of an increase in the numbers of young people presenting with alcohol-related health problems (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1986). Families are important socializers when it comes to alcohol use. First and early drinking experiences generally take place within the family environment, and families continue to play an important socialization role throughout adolescence (Foxcroft & Lowe, 1991). It is therefore important to learn about those family behaviours which adolescents perceive as important in relation to teenage drinking-and particularly to inappropriate alcohol use-and also the ways in LtThich alcohol use makes sense to young drinkers themselves (Sharp & Lowe, 1989; May, 1991). Family socialization theory points to four main influential factors in the delrelopment of teenage drinking. These are family process behaviours, characterized by levels of family support and control, and family social Icnrmng influences-modeling and social reinforcement (Lowe et al., 1993). Typically, lo\\‘ support, low control, heavier parental drinking and a laissez-faire parental attitude to their teenager’s alcohol use are associated independently and additively with heavier teenage drinking. In this paper we apply qualitative analysis to detailed statements in which young people publicly frame their ideas about alcohol. The purpose of this qualitative approach was to examine teenage drinking and family socialization using a different analytical technique. Different research techniques applied to the same research question (i.e. a multi-method approach) provide more infortnation for the issue of validity. In these statements, or accounts, we expected young people to portray adolescent alcohol use as a normative developmental behaviour, and also that teenagers organize their thoughts on young people, drinking and family life around the family socialization factors mentioned above. Method The sample reported in the present qualitative analysis was a small, randomly selected group drawn from a large-scale regional study of young people, drinking, family life, health and other lifestyle behaviours. In this large study schools were randomly selected in Humberside, UK and over 4000 students aged between 11 and 16 completed a questionnaire. This involved administering the questionnaire to one class from each year group in each school. Anonymity and confidentiality were, of course, assured and stressed to all participants.


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One objective of the large study was to collect quantitative data for statistical analysis. The use of a self-completion questionnaire also provided an opportunity to collect qualitative data in the form of written statements and accounts. The back page of the questionnaire was given over to this. On it respondents were asked to write down their thoughts and opinions about young people, drinking and family life. A mass of textual data was collected, and this took on a variety of forms ranging from detailed accounts to much shorter statements, and included cartoons and drawings. Both male (M) and female (F) respondents took advantage of the opportunity for self-expression offered to them, engaging with the researcher in an often interactive and spontaneous way, but also with the obvious intention of making their views known to the researcher. One of the difficulties, however, of this feature of the research is that we found ourselves with huge amounts of fascinating but typically unwieldy data. In this paper we report the results of a detailed qualitative analysis of material drawn from one class, at one school. In the following section we quote from the attributive statements made by twenty 15-lbyear-olds at a school in a mixed area of a town in Humberside, UK. By the term attributive statement we mean any written statement made by respondents which conveys some aspect of the ideas through which they frame their social world. Data were organised for analysis through the use of a grid, or map, showing the distribution of particular categories of statement. This technique is employed extensively in the analysis of transcribed interview data (Strauss, 1986).

Results Using the qualitative technique of mapping the textual data onto a grid, two main categories of data were clearly identified. Firstly, statements which referred to the ways in which respondents felt young people should drink and to the importance of individual choice in their drinking practices. Secondly, respondents referred to the ways in which their drinking practices were organized in relation to parental and other family influences.

Teenage Drinking These statements were marked by a degree of moderation about appropriate drinking behaviour. In this context, there were a number of articulate accounts. Only one respondent adopted a completely negative position. R11007F: I don’t think it is really right for young people to drink. There is too much advertising for alcohol. This encourages young people to drink. Some people think that they can have a good time if they drink but this is not true. You can easily have a good time when you’re not drinking. If some young people are a little bit depressed or upset they turn to drink because they think it can help you but it can’t it just makes things worse.

For other respondents in this group, ideas about alcohol use were predicated on ’individual’ choice. The central issue here was one of ’readiness’ or maturity. This is emphasized in the two short statements below.

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D. R. Foxcroft et al. R11015M: I think that people of my age should be allowed to choose if he/she wants to drink.

In another instance:

R21022M: If the person thinks he’s ready let him/her drink.


While discretion or ‘choice’ about whether individuals should drink was a key feature of these statements, respondents also stressed that their consumption was ’moderate’. They had a clear set of ideas about how alcohol should be used, and about what constituted misuse. R11001M: I think it isn’t bad for young people to drink as long as they don’t get totally drunk, because it is then when people start to cause riots or get angry (although this is not the case always) and do stupid things. Drinking isn’t bad in small moderations.

Moderation and self-control were important to these adolescents. However, this should not be taken to mean that they avoided intoxication. Intoxication was in fact specified as part of these accounts. This is demonstrated in the two excerpts below.

R21012M: I think it is ok for young people to drink if they can handle it. They don’t want to push it, i.e. getting drunk every night. I myself might get drunk once or twice a month otherwise it’s just a couple of pints or cans of lager. This I think is ok.

R11017M: Personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with young people drinking as long as the person doesn’t drink too much. I don’t like alcohol although I like being merry. In other words, these respondents are making a set of qualitative distinctions about their drinking behaviour. It is acceptable to drink alcohol and also to get merry or drunk, providing one does not go too far. Such positions are organized around an awareness of the potential problems that adolescents might face. One respondent in fact referred to a personal experience.

R12003F: I used to think it was ok for people to get really drunk but because I had a bad experience with drink I now disagree. Family Influences The second category of data identified during qualitative analysis was organised around parental influences, and particularly around parental knowledge. In the excerpts below, parental knowledge (and permission) are inextricably linked with self-control over the quantities consumed. This extended to both males and females.

R22003F: I do think its ok to drink with parents’ permission and maybe if you go out just have little bit, but don’t get drunk because it’s too dangerous. Similarly,

R11009M: I think that it’s ok to drink as long as the parents know how much you drink and they know what you drink.


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Responsibility and moderation were, as we have already noted, key features of these statements. Respondents wished to emphasise that they were able to independently organize, and make choices about, their drinking behaviour. At the same time, they wished to stress that they were not acting outside of the bounds of parental discretion and consent.


R11013M: . . . I think it is alright to drink if you are sensible at the age of 15/16 years. Better with parental consent. As alcohol can get seriously out of hand.

R11018F: I don’t think that it is wrong for teenagers to drink as long as it’s not in excessive amounts. I think that it is ok for them to drink at special occasions such as Christmas, etc. My parents have never minded me drinking as long as I don’t drink too much, which I never have anway. These observations emphasise that parental knowledge and awareness are important in teenage drinking, and that these respondents are partially dependent on parental discretion in the organization of their alcohol use. In this context, it would seem that parental openness and awareness about their offspring’s drinking behaviours are paralleled by expressions of trustworthiness in the form of sensible and appropriate drinking behaviours. The drinking behaviour of parents and family was also expressed in the attributive statements. R11004F: I myself only drink at special occasions. My parents rarely drink either. My brother goes out for a drink or two with his mates but not very often. I don’t think that I’m influenced at all.

And amongst these accounts of parental and family drinking, the potential role of family problems was also mentioned.

R120013F: Some people drink because of problems at home or if their parents drink a lot it may influence them in some way. R11007F: If you don’t get on very well with your family or if your family drink this may encourage you to drink and you might start doing it at home when your parents are out. These statements suggest an imitative or modelling effect from parents and other family members to young people. What is interesting here is the sense in which most respondents referred to a ’generalized other’. Few accounts referred directly to concrete personal experience-the teenagers tended to refer to family influences and the potential for alcohol-related problems in others. But the statement by respondent R11004F (above) does refer to personal experiencedrinking by her, and by her family, follow similar patterns, but it is taken for granted by this respondent that because their drinking behaviour is ‘normal’ and appropriate, that a modelling process is not operating. This suggests that modelling influences, at least for normal drinking, may be covert. The role of family relationships is also outlined in the above accounts. Parent-child relations are characterized by two important dimensions of behaviour-family support and control (Rollins & Thomas, 1979; Maccoby & Martin, 1984). Dysfunctional levels of support and/or control may lead to relationship problems. In the above statements it is suggested that problems at home may

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contribute to adolescent drinlung, in that alcohol is used as a coping strategy, or ’escape’ resource. As such, parents and family have failed to effectively socialize their offspring into the appropriate use of alcohol. This is clearly outlined in the statement made by one individual.


11029F: I got drunk because I was having problems with my m u m . . . Eventually we sorted out the problem, but now there’s no trust between us. I think young people drink as a way to rebel. Most of the friends I have that drink only drink to escape their surroundingsfamily problems, etc. I like drinking as it helps me forget my problems.

Discussion These qualitative accounts, although from a relatively small group of young people, provide quite a broad insight into the way young people frame their perceptions of teenage drinking and family influences. These accounts suggest that adolescents do not see their drinking as a deviant behaviour. Sensible and moderate drinking is desirable and the norm. Within the domain of family influence, several factors seem important. These are the positive role of parental sanction, and also of appropriate parental and family drinking. The potential negati1.e influence of poor family relationships is also highlighted. The family influences described in these accounts are consistent with family socialization theory, which points to both familial social learning (modeling and social reinforcement) and family process (support and control) as important family behaviours in the socialization of teenage drinking (Lowe et al., 1993). But how does this qualitative analysis contribute to our knowledge of teenage drinking? Family socialization theory is supported by largely quantitative research in relation to adolescent alcohol use. However, multi-method approaches provide greater validity, and this qualitative study supplements the predominantly quantitative knowledge base of family socialization influences on teenage drinking. What are the implications of these findings? Traditional alcohol education paradigms, which generally operate on information-based principles or a resistance to peer-pressure basis, have had remarkably little success in moderating actual drinking behaviour (Moscowitz, 1989; May, 1991). The present results suggest that teenagers on the whole perceive their drinking to be normative, unproblematic and sanctioned behaviour. As such, these individuals have no reason to moderate their actual drinking behaviour. However, these accounts also pointed to inappropriate parental drinking and family relationship problems as an inappropriate motivation for drinlung. Also, parental sanction/ knowledge was perceived as a key factor in sensible alcohol use. In this context, families and the home would seem to offer an important base and focus for alcohol education. Parents and families should be made aware of the potential positive effects of their behaviour-their own drinking, their attitude towards their teenager’s drinking, and the relationships they have with each other-for their offspring’s alcohol use.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Alcohol Education and Research Council for supporting DRF whilst a research student at the University of Hull, and to the Portman


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Group for supporting CRM.Part of C M s contribution to this paper was made while a Research Fellow in the Alcohol Research Group, University of Edinburgh.


References Bagnall, G.M. (1991) Educating Young Drinkers (London, Routledge). Dorn, N. (1983) Alcohol, Youth and the State: drinking practices, controls and health education (London, Croom Helm). Foxcroft, D.R. & Lowe, G. (1991) Adolescent drinking behaviour and family socialization factors: a meta-analysis, Journal of Adolescence, 14, pp. 255-273. Foxcroft, D.R. & Lowe, G. (1992a) The role of the family in adolescent alcohol abuse: socialization and structural influences, Journal of Adolescent Chemical Dependency, 2, pp. 75-91. Foxcroft, D.R. & Lowe, G. (1992b) Self attributions for alcohol use in older teenagers, Addiction Research, 1, pp. 1-10, Goddard, E. (1991) Drinking in England and Wales in the Late 1980s (London, HMSO). Health Education Authority (1989) Teenage Health and Lifestyles, Vol. 2, Alcohol (London, MOM). Lowe, G., Foxcroft, D.R. & Sibley, D. (1993) Adolescent Drinking and Family Life (Chur, Switzerland, Hanvood Academic). Maccoby, E. & Martin, J. (1983) Socialization in the context of the family: parent, child interaction, in: P. H. Mussen (Ed.) Handbook of Child Psychology, pp. 1-101 (New York, Wiley). Marsh, A,, Dobbs, J. & White, A. (1986) Adolescent Drinking (London, HMSO). May, C. (1991) Research on alcohol education for young people: a critical review of the literature, Health Education Journal, 50, pp. 195-199. May, C. (1992) A burning issue? Adolescent alcohol use in Britain 1970-1991, Alcohol and Alcoholism, 50, pp. 195-199. Moscowitz, J. (1989) The primary prevention of alcohol problems: a critical review of the research literature, Iournal of Studies on Alcohol, 50, pp. 54-88. Plant, M.A. & Plant, M.L. (1992) The Risk-takers: alcohol, drugs, sex and youth (London, Routledge). Rollins, B. & Thomas, D. (1979) Parental support, power, and control techniques in the socialization of children, in: W. Burr, R. Hill, I. Nye & I. Reiss (Eds) Contemporary Theories about the Family, pp. 317-364 (New York, Free Press/Schaefer). Royal College of Psychiatrists (1986) Alcohol: our favourite drug (London, Tavistock). Sharp, D.J. & Lowe, G. (1989) Adolescents and alcohol-a review of the recent British research, Journal of Adolescence, 12, pp. 295-307. Strauss, A. (1986) Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists (London, Cambridge University Press). Willis, P. (1978) Learning to Labour: how working class kids get working class jobs (London, Saxon House).