35-Year-Old Parents Do Not Approve of 17-Year-Olds' Cigarette, Marijuana, or Alcohol Use: US National Data 1993-2018

Purpose: Parents' attitudes about adolescent substance use likely guide their parenting behaviors. This study documents prevalence of parents' disapproval of adolescent substance use and char-acteristics associated with disapproval. Methods: Survey data from national samples of 35-year-old parents from the U.S. Monitoring the Future study were collected 1993-2018. Multivariable logistic regression examined predictors of disapproving attitudes about substance use by a hypothetical 17-year-old child, including occa-sional marijuana use or drunkenness, and regular cigarette, marijuana, or alcohol use. Results: Across all cohorts, rates of disapproving attitudes ranged from 93.7% disapproving of getting drunk occasionally to 97.2% disapproving of regular cigarette use, with some erosion in disapproval for some substances across cohorts. Parents' own recent abstinence from substance use predicted greater odds of disapproval. Conclusions: The overwhelming majority of 35-year-old parents disapprove of adolescent sub-stance use. Prevention and public health messaging can support parenting by sharing this important information. (c) 2022 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The majority of 35-year-old parents disapprove of adolescent substance use, and parents' recent abstinence from substance use is associated with their disapproval.