Effect of Pubertal and Psychosocial Timing on Adolescents' Alcohol Use: What Role Does Alcohol-Specific Parenting Play?

• NCJ Number: 237122
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 40 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2011 Pages: 1302-1314
• Author(s): Karen Schelleman-Offermans; Ronald A. Knibbe; Rutger C.M.E. Engels; William J. Burk
• Date Published: October 2011
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated whether alcohol-specific rules mediate and/or moderate the effect that early pubertal and psychosocial timing (personal, relational, socio-institutional) has on adolescents' alcohol use.

Abstract

In scientific literature, early pubertal timing emerges as a risk factor of adolescents' drinking, whereas alcohol-specific rules (the degree to which parents permit their children to consume alcohol in various situations) showed to protect against adolescents' drinking. This study investigated whether alcohol-specific rules mediate and/or moderate the effect that early pubertal and psychosocial timing (personal, relational, socio-institutional) has on adolescents' alcohol use. Mediation and moderation models were tested conducting ordinal logistic structural equation modeling in a cross-sectional sample of 1,893 Dutch adolescents (49 percent males), aged 13-15 years. Findings showed that early pubertal, relational and socio-institutional timers were at greater risk to initiate alcohol use and for heavy episodic drinking. Alcohol-specific rules more often mediated, rather than moderated, the effect of early timing on alcohol use. Alcohol-specific rules are mostly relaxed when adolescents mature, rather than reinforced, indicating that parents partly facilitate adolescents' drinking. (Published Abstract)