Parents’ attitudes and beliefs affect how they perceive underage alcohol use.
The less vulnerability their children exhibit, the less likely parents are to take actions to protect them. For example, a 2001 survey by Yankelovich revealed mothers are more likely to talk to their children about friends, drugs, or smoking than about alcohol (Nickelodeon/Yankelovich, 2001).
Parents may also underestimate vulnerability because of their children’s ages. According to a qualitative MADD study in 2001, parents believe children become more likely to use alcohol at ages 17 and older (Goldfarb, 2001).
Parents in general see underage alcohol use as more acceptable than use of illicit drugs, and some view underage alcohol use as a rite of passage. The MADD study (Goldfarb, 2001) also revealed parents’ leniency in their attitudes toward alcohol use as well as their perceptions that drug use was more of a threat to their children’s well-being.
Thus their children’s lack of awareness of the harms of alcohol may be traced to their parents’ preoccu-pation with the harms of illicit drugs.
Parents’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 4
Research supports what parents believe and clearly demonstrates that alcohol negatively affects academic performance.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) found that students using alcohol during adolescence have a reduced ability to learn, compared with those who do not use alcohol until adulthood (NIAAA, 1998).
Among eighth graders, higher truancy rates were found to be associated with greater rates of alcohol use in the past month (NIAAA, 1998).
And a recent American Medical Association (AMA) report stated that adolescent drinkers had worse scores on vocabulary, visual, and memory tests than adolescent nondrinkers (AMA, 2002).
Parents’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 5
Research again supports what parents believe and shows that the long-term effects of alcohol con-sumption can lead to permanent damage of vital organs such as the brain and liver.
For example, research indicates that adolescents who use alcohol may remember 10 percent less of what they have learned than those who don’t drink (NIAAA, 2002b). This memory loss can include the inability to form new memories, particularly memories that are explicit in nature, such as names and numbers.
Other effects of alcohol use include impaired motor skills, dizziness, talkativeness, and slurred speech. These short-term effects are more relevant to 9- to 13-year-olds (White, 2002). As we will see later, 9- to 13-year-olds use their own language to describe these effects.
Parents’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 6
Loss of inhibitions and loss of judgment also demonstrate the short-term effects of alcohol use.
And as the MADD study in 2001 showed, parents are concerned that alcohol use can lead to other activities like using drugs, having sex, and losing the ability to say no (Goldfarb, 2001).
The 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 7
CSAP primary research found that 9- to 13-year-olds were more likely to relate alcohol to behavioral problems. The 9- to 13-year-olds said, for example, that alcohol “makes you commit murder” and “do silly things” (CSAP, 2001, 2002).
The 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 8
Research supports the perception that alcohol impairs brain function and adolescent memory.
For example, a 20-year study released by the American Medical Association in 2002 demonstrated that alcohol alters the developing brain and possibly causes irreversible damage (AMA, 2002).
CSAP learned in its primary research for this initiative that this physical effect is compelling for 9- to 13-year-olds. The young people were well aware that you “can’t concentrate” or “can’t think straight” when using alcohol (CSAP, 2001, 2002).
The 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 9
Research also supports the perception that underage alcohol use is linked to violence and aggressive behavior.
According to SAMHSA, individuals who begin using alcohol before the age of 14 were 11 times more likely to have ever been in a fight while using alcohol or after using alcohol than adults who began using alcohol after the age of 21 (NIAAA, 2002).
And in Too Smart To Start’s primary research, the 9- to 13-year-olds said alcohol use makes you “do silly things and vomit,” “fight people,” and “act stupid,” and causes a change in personality (CSAP, 2001, 2002).
The 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 10
Young people 9 to 13 years old have misperceptions about alcohol as well.
For example, recent PRIDE surveys revealed that within each grade level, students are most likely to believe that liquor is more harmful to their health, followed by beer, and then wine coolers (PRIDE, 2002, April 5; 2002, May 7).
This misperception is similar to parents’ misperception that alcohol is less harmful than illicit drugs.
The 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perception of Harm - SLIDE 11
Studies show that 9- to 13-year-olds are aware of the harms, but the perceptions decrease over time. Although belief in harms associated with alcohol use increases for each succeeding grade from fourth to sixth, students’ belief in harms decreases from sixth to eighth grade (PRIDE, 2002, April 5; 2002, May 7).
The 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perceived Benefits of Not Using Alcohol - SLIDE 12
Additional benefits of not using revealed by 9- to 13-year-olds in CSAP’s primary research (2001, 2002) were that:
In secondary research CSAP (2001, 2002) learned that young people value short-term positive outcomes from not using alcohol, including being socially popular, having a good sense of humor, having an outgoing personality, and being good in sports or video games.
Parents’ Perceptions vs. 9- to 13-Year-Olds’ Perceptions - SLIDE 13
When we juxtapose parents’ perceptions with 9- to 13-year-olds’ perceptions, we can see some interesting similarities.
Parents perceive and communicate long-term, more abstract dangers. Parents, for example, associate alcohol use with poor school performance.
The 9- to 13-year-olds’ perceive short-term, more concrete consequences, and express these in a language that both personalizes and simplifies. For example, young people also associate alcohol with poor school performance but express this harm as “can’t think straight” or “can’t concentrate.”
What Parents Need To Know - SLIDE 14
Many parents don’t believe that they have an influence on their children’s decisions regarding alcohol use. Yet we know that they are the chief influence on their child’s later attitudes and behavior toward alcohol.
What Parents Need To Know - SLIDE 15
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What Parents Need To Know - SLIDE 16
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What Parents Need To Know - SLIDE 17
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What Parents Need To Know - SLIDE 18
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What Parents Need To Know - SLIDE 19
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What Parents Need To Say - SLIDE 20
In talking to 9- to 13-year-olds, it is better to emphasize short-term negative consequences than focus on long-term abstract dangers. At the same time, it is important to relate the negative physical consequences to immediate and compelling social consequences. We know that young people ages 9 to 13 value feelings associated with being smart, being socially popular, and getting approval from older peers and adults. Thus it is better, for example, to relate underage alcohol use to the concrete and immediate social harm of getting your friends and parents mad at you if you use alcohol than to talk about cirrhosis of the liver.
We learned today that many 9- to 13-year-olds perceive underage alcohol use as leading to negative physical harm.
We should reinforce these correct perceptions with positive messages in order to ensure that their attitudes about alcohol don’t deteriorate. And where there are misperceptions (e.g., some types of alcohol are less harmful than others), we should view these misperceptions as opportunities to discuss harm in terms the 9- to 13-year-olds can relate to. All discussion should appeal to their emotions without judging them.
Young people 9- to 13-years-old value uniqueness and independence and like to make their own decisions. The process of listening and addressing their perceptions of harm in terms they are familiar with enables them to make informed decisions based on accurate information. (CSAP, 2001, 2002)
What Parents Need To Do - SLIDE 21
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American Medical Association (AMA). (2002). Harmful consequences of alcohol use on the brains of children, adolescents, and college students.
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2001, 2002). Too Smart To Start research. (Available from University Research Co., 7200 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD, 20814-4811)
Goldfarb Consultants. (2001, September). Unpublished data from MADD focus groups.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). (1998). Alcohol research and health.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Leadership To Keep Children Alcohol Free. (2002a). Making the link: Underage drinking and violence. Retrieved February 4, 2003, from http:// www.alcoholfreechildren.org/stats
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Leadership To Keep Children Alcohol Free. (2002b). Statistics. Retrieved January 28, 2003, from http://www.alcoholfreechildren.org/stats/
Nickelodeon/Yankelovich. (2001). Invasion of the spotlight snatchers starring the planet youth players 2000/2001 (Youth Monitor Trend Reference Books 1 and 2). Norwalk, CT: Yankelovich.
PRIDE Inc. (2002, April 5). 2000-2001 Pride national summary: Alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, violence, and related behaviors grades 6 thru 12. Retrieved June 5, 2002, from http://www.pridesurveys.com/ us00.pdf
PRIDE Inc. (2002, May 7). 2000-2001 Pride national summary: Alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, violence, and related behaviors grades 4 thru 6. Retrieved June 5, 2002, from http://www.pridesurveys.com/ ue00.pdf
