Parents Know Best, But Are They Accurate? Parental Normative Misperceptions and Their Relationship to Students\u27 Alcohol-Related Outcomes

Objective: Parents often look to other parents for guidance, but how accurate are their perceptions? Expanding on existing normative literature to include parents of college students, this study first sought to determine whether parents accurately estimated the attitudes of other parents concerning their college student\u27s alcohol-related behaviors. The effect of these (mis)perceived injunctive norms on the alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors of the parents\u27 own children was then examined. Method: Participants were 270 college student-parent dyadic pairs who completed independent online surveys. The student sample was 59% female; the parent sample was 78% female. Results: A structural equation model demonstrated that parents significantly overestimated other parents\u27 approval of alcohol use by their respective child and, further, that these misperceptions strongly influenced parental attitudes toward their own child\u27s drinking. Parental attitudes were sub-sequently found to be significantly associated with their child\u27s attitudes toward drinking but were only marginally associated with the child\u27s actual drinking, thereby underscoring the mediational effect of the child\u27s attitudes. Conclusions: This is the first study to document the influence of parental normative misperceptions regarding alcohol use by their college-age children, reinforcing the importance of parental attitudes on children\u27s alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors in college. These findings support the need to complement student-based interventions with parent-based interventions aimed at increasing parental awareness and involvement. Further, the current findings indicate that normative interventions targeting parents offer a promising avenue by which to indirectly and positively influence college students\u27 alcohol use