AN EXPLORATION OF PARENT-ADOLESCENT RELATIONSHIP PROFILES IN THE SUMMER PRIOR TO COLLEGE AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH ALCOHOL USE AMONG INCOMING FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

Eleanor Rachel Dizon

doi:10.7273/000006928

Purpose: Alcohol use among college students continues to be an important public health concern, with first-year college students being at significant risk for engaging in harmful patterns of use. Interventions aimed at leveraging parental influence offer one possible avenue toward the prevention of risky alcohol at this critical developmental window, but studies evaluating the effectiveness of current parent-based interventions indicate that they may not be equally effective for all. The heterogeneity within parent-adolescent relationships is one possible rationale for the variation in intervention effects among diverse parent-adolescent dyads, yet little empirical research has been conducted that examines the multifaceted nature of parent-adolescent relationships in the transition to college. The current study aims to fill this gap by exploring the number and characteristics of unique parent-adolescent relationship subgroups in the transition to college so that those most at risk may be identified. Method: Data were collected from a sample of 121 incoming first-year students during the summer before matriculation at a large public university. Through an online survey, incoming first-year college students responded to questions about the perceptions of their parent's monitoring and knowledge, the quality of their relationship with their parents, and their own past 30-day alcohol use, binge drinking, and intentions to drink while in college. Latent Class Analyses were used to identify the number and characteristics of unique parent-adolescent relationship profiles. Each alcohol-related variable was then entered as a covariate in the final latent class model to examine whether any significantly predicted latent class membership. Results: Four parent-adolescent relationship profiles emerged: Low-Moderate Risk (38%), Low Parental Monitoring and Knowledge (15%), Poor Relationship Quality (15%), and High Parental Dominance (33%). Additionally, all three alcohol-related variables were found to be significant predictors of latent class membership. Incoming students in the Low Parental Monitoring and Knowledge profile were more likely to report any alcohol use in the past 30 days, any binge drinking in the past 2 weeks, and high intentions to drink in the first year of college relative to students in the High Parental Dominance profile. Incoming students in the Low Parental Monitoring and Knowledge profile were also more likely to report binge drinking relative to the Low-Moderate Risk profile, and they were more likely to report high intentions to drink when in college relative to the Poor Relationship Quality profile. Conclusions and Implications: Findings indicate that incoming first-year college students’ reports of their parents’ monitoring and knowledge, in tandem with their perceptions of the quality of their relationship, form complex patterns that can be interpreted as qualitatively distinct profiles. Of the four profiles identified, those in the Low Parental Monitoring and Knowledge profile were at the greatest risk for engaging in risky alcohol use. These findings further our understanding of parent-adolescent relationships during a critical time of transition and may be used to enhance the effectiveness of parent-based interventions aimed at reducing risky substance use among incoming college students.

AN EXPLORATION OF PARENT-ADOLESCENT RELATIONSHIP PROFILES IN THE SUMMER PRIOR TO COLLEGE AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH ALCOHOL USE AMONG INCOMING FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

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