A study of freshmen student attitudes and behavior toward alcohol in relation to their parents attitudes about alcohol

Graduation date: 1994The purpose of this study was to examine the\ud relationship between parental attitudes and student\ud attitudes toward the consumption of alcoholic beverages,\ud between parental attitudes toward the consumption of\ud alcoholic beverages and the reasons students drink alcoholic\ud beverages, and between parental attitudes toward the\ud consumption of alcoholic beverages and the frequency and\ud quantity of alcoholic beverages consumed by students.\ud The Alcohol and Other Drug Survey and the Survey of\ud Parental Attitudes were employed. The sample included 389\ud sets of matched pairs of parent and student from Radford\ud University, Virginia.\ud Analysis included descriptive statistical techniques,\ud Multiple Linear Regression to predict outcomes, and\ud Pearson r to describe correlations between variables.\ud Based on the results of the study, the following\ud conclusions were reached:\ud 1. There is a significant relationship between parental\ud attitudes and student attitudes toward alcohol consumption,\ud but this is brought about by the difference of opinion in\ud condoning or not tolerating the use of alcohol.\ud 2. There is a significant relationship between the parental\ud attitude "condone use" and students consuming alcohol\ud because "it tastes good" and "to get drunk."\ud 3. There is a significant relationship between the parental\ud attitude "condone use" and students consuming five or more\ud drinks in a row.\ud 4. It was concluded that student peer attitudes, student\ud religion, and parental attitudes about alcohol were\ud significant predictors of student attitudes toward alcohol\ud consumption.\ud 5. There is a substantial difference in the percentage of\ud students who condone drinking as compared to parents\ud responding similarly.\ud 6. Important findings revealed students to be much more\ud tolerant of drinking behavior that parents overwhelmingly\ud felt placed people at risk of harming themselves.\ud 7. Interesting data revealed that students are much more\ud accepting of drunken behavior and drinking games.\ud 8. The primary reasons students gave for drinking alcoholic\ud beverages included "to have a good time with friends," "to\ud fit in with peers," and "to get wasted," with parents being\ud most tolerant of their son/daughter consuming alcohol "to\ud have a good time with friends