Parenting Practices and Adolescent Alcohol Use in Native American Reservations

Background and Purpose: Native American (NA) youth initiate alcohol use earlier and report higher rates of binge drinking compared to national averages. The primary socialization theory claims that socialization in the family, school, and peer environments communicates alcohol-use norms and behaviors to adolescents. Theory asserts that family has the central role because it shapes how an adolescent interacts within the domains of school and peers, by modeling behaviors that are performed within the familial context. Although research supports the tenets of the primary socialization theory for prevention or reduction of drinking among adolescents, the potential of NA families to influence adolescent drinking has been explored to a limited extent. The study examines three dimensions of parenting practices in relation to drinking - family involvement with school, positive family norms, and parental monitoring – and whether these can be utilized for improving outcomes among NA youth living in or around reservations.

Methods: We used data from a large-scale survey conducted among high school students in 34 states during 2009-2013. An analytic sample included responses of 4,854 students (79% response rate) living on/around reservations. We used factor analysis to generate measures for family involvement with school, positive family norms, and parental monitoring. Outcomes were measured as: occasional drinking, recent drinking, and heavy drinking. We applied two-level linear models with a school as the second-level variable. We controlled for common risk factors associated with drinking among adolescents. We compared results between NA and White adolescents.

Results: Family involvement in school (b = -0.06), family norms (b = -0.05), and parent monitoring (b = -0.15) were associated with reduced occasional drinking among NA youth. A comparison showed significant differences between slopes for family norms, t(4.40) = 3.88, p = .000, indicating that positive family norms were more protective for White adolescents. Recent drinking was negatively associated with family involvement in school (b = -0.04), family norms (b = -0.04), and parent monitoring (b = -0.08) in the NA sample. Significant differences were observed for parent monitoring of adolescents (t(4.40)= 3.13, p = .002) between two samples, revealing that parental monitoring was more protective from recent drinking for NA adolescents. Heavy drinking was negatively associated with family involvement in school (b = -0.11), family norms (b = -0.09), and parent monitoring (b = -0.10) in the NA sample. For this outcome, significant differences in slopes were identified for family norms: t(4.40)= 2.40, p = .016, indicating that family norms were more protective for White adolescents.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings demonstrate the positive role of parenting practices in the reduction of drinking among NA adolescents. Within a larger context of research and practice, NA families demonstrate a strong potential for the prevention and reduction of adolescent drinking, as they are armed with distinct mechanisms of norms and monitoring practices that can be utilized and, ultimately, improve drinking outcomes in this population.