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      A qualitative exploration of attitudes towards alcohol, and the role of parents and peers of two alcohol-attitude-based segments of the adolescent population

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          Abstract

          Background

          An earlier study using social marketing and audience segmentation distinguished five segments of Dutch adolescents aged 12–18 years based on their attitudes towards alcohol. The present, qualitative study focuses on two of these five segments ( ‘ordinaries’ and ‘ordinary sobers’) and explores the attitudes of these two segments towards alcohol, and the role of parents and peers in their alcohol use in more detail.

          Methods

          This qualitative study was conducted in the province of North-Brabant, the Netherlands. With a 28-item questionnaire, segments of adolescents were identified. From the ordinaries and ordinary sobers who were willing to participate in a focus group, 55 adolescents (30 ordinaries and 25 ordinary sobers) were selected and invited to participate. Finally, six focus groups were conducted with 12–17 year olds, i.e., three interviews with 17 ordinaries and three interviews with 20 ordinary sobers at three different high schools.

          Results

          The ordinaries thought that drinking alcohol was fun and relaxing. Curiosity was an important factor in starting to drink alcohol. Peer pressure played a role, e.g., it was difficult not to drink when peers were drinking. Most parents advised their child to drink a small amount only. The attitude of ordinary sobers towards alcohol was that drinking alcohol was stupid; moreover, they did not feel the need to drink. Most parents set strict rules and prohibited the use of alcohol before the age of 16.

          Conclusions

          Qualitative insight into the attitudes towards alcohol and the role played by parents and peers, revealed differences between ordinaries and ordinary sobers. Based on these differences and on health education theories, starting points for the development of interventions, for both parents and adolescents, are formulated. Important starting points for interventions targeting ordinaries are reducing perceived peer pressure and learning to make one’s own choices. For the ordinary sobers, an important starting point includes enabling them to express to others that they do not feel the need to drink alcohol. Starting points for parents include setting strict rules, restricting alcohol availability at home and monitoring their child’s alcohol use.

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          Most cited references21

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          The Effects of Parenting on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Misuse: A Six-Wave Latent Growth Model

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            Alcohol: no ordinary commodity--a summary of the second edition.

            (2010)
            This article summarizes the contents of Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity (2nd edn). The first part of the book describes why alcohol is not an ordinary commodity, and reviews epidemiological data that establish alcohol as a major contributor to the global burden of disease, disability and death in high-, middle- and low-income countries. This section also documents how international beer and spirits production has been consolidated recently by a small number of global corporations that are expanding their operations in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the second part of the book, the scientific evidence for strategies and interventions that can prevent or minimize alcohol-related harm is reviewed critically in seven key areas: pricing and taxation, regulating the physical availability of alcohol, modifying the drinking context, drink-driving countermeasures, restrictions on marketing, education and persuasion strategies, and treatment and early intervention services. Finally, the book addresses the policy-making process at the local, national and international levels and provides ratings of the effectiveness of strategies and interventions from a public health perspective. Overall, the strongest, most cost-effective strategies include taxation that increases prices, restrictions on the physical availability of alcohol, drink-driving countermeasures, brief interventions with at risk drinkers and treatment of drinkers with alcohol dependence.
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              Parental alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol-specific attitudes, alcohol-specific communication, and adolescent excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related problems: An indirect path model.

              Alcohol-specific parent-child communication has often been studied in relation to regular alcohol use of adolescents. However, it might be as important to focus on adolescent problematic alcohol use. In addition, the way parents communicate with their children about alcohol might depend on their own (problematic) drinking behaviors. Therefore, the current study examined the direct effects of parental alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and parental alcohol-specific attitudes on adolescent excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems later in life. It also looked at indirect effects via alcohol-specific communication. The sample consisted of 428 Dutch families including fathers, mothers and adolescents from two age groups (13 and 15 years old) at T1, who have been surveyed annually for 5 years. We tested the model with structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that parental alcohol-related problems were positively associated with communication about alcohol, which in turn was related with less excessive adolescent drinking and alcohol-related problems. Lenient parental attitudes about alcohol and parental alcohol-related problems were directly related to more excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems in adolescents. In conclusion, alcohol-specific communication intervenes in the relationship between parental alcohol-related problems and adolescent excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems. This indicates that in family alcohol interventions targeted at youth alcohol use, parental alcohol-related problems should be taken into account. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy
                Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy
                Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy
                BioMed Central
                1747-597X
                2014
                24 May 2014
                : 9
                : 20
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Tranzo Department, Scientific Center for Care and Welfare, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands
                [2 ]Regional Public Health Service “Hart voor Brabant”, PO Box 3166, 5203 DD ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
                [3 ]The Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, PO Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands
                [4 ]National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
                Article
                1747-597X-9-20
                10.1186/1747-597X-9-20
                4045867
                24885322
                f760c79d-d914-45f8-b2f0-c0fd4dc77d1a
                Copyright © 2014 Janssen et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 3 February 2014
                : 19 May 2014
                Categories
                Research

                Health & Social care
                social marketing,audience segmentation,adolescents,alcohol,attitudes,peers,parents
                Health & Social care
                social marketing, audience segmentation, adolescents, alcohol, attitudes, peers, parents

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