Parents: Not So Ignorant, After All
October 26th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
For years, parents have been berated in anti-drug ads for their supposed ignorance about the drug-ingesting habits of their children, but a new study suggests that many parents aren’t so myopic, after all.
Medical News Today reported Oct. 25 that researchers from the Research Institute on Addictions at the University of Buffalo found that 82 percent of parents accurately identified cigarette smoking by their children, with similar success in reporting the use of alcohol (86 percent) and marijuana use (86 percent). Parents were least successful in determining if their children were using illicit drugs other than marijuana (72 percent).
“This study begins to dispel the notion that parents don’t know the extent to which their teens are using cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs,” said lead researcher Neil B. McGillicuddy, Ph.D. “It seems that, despite a few exceptions, many parents do know the extent of their teenager’s substance use. Parents can use this knowledge to help themselves cope with teenage substance use and the resulting stress on the family, as well as to begin conversations with their teen about making changes.”
In cases where parental and youth reports of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use diverged, parents tended to underestimate the frequency and amount of their children’s drug use. This was more likely to happen with parents of younger teens and among parents who provided less supervision of their children after school, at night, and on the weekends.
The study was published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse.