Researchers are turning to parent-based interventions in order to leverage parents’ protective influence that seemingly shapes their children’s drinking behaviors well into college. Typical parent-based interventions have been somewhat successful, but have failed at reducing heavy episodic drinking (HED). As a result, resources are focused instead toward peer influence interventions. Although the basic parent-based interventions fall short, expanding on these interventions by engaging parents further and utilizing social norms may yield promising results. Researchers developed the “Parent Feedback Intervention Targeting Student Transitions and Alcohol Related Trajectories” (Parent FITSTART) in hopes of delaying alcohol initiation and reducing HED among first-year college students.  In short, they hoped the intervention would increase parents’ disapproval of drinking and their communication with their children about alcohol, ultimately influencing student alcohol behaviors. 385 students from a private university participated and had at least one parent participate with them. The intervention took place during scheduled parent-only orientation programming for one group, while an information technology session was presented to another group of parents to serve as a control for the study. Parents answered questions and discussed their perceptions of student drinking, their normative beliefs with regard to parent alcohol acceptability, and their beliefs with regard to parent-child alcohol-related communication. During the intervention session, parents were also educated on research that demonstrates parents’ influence on their children’s alcohol use decisions during the transition to college, and strategies for communicating with their children about alcohol use. Students completed a baseline survey prior to the parent intervention and a follow-up survey 4 months later.  Results of this study found that students of parents assigned to the intervention consumed 30% fewer drinks per week than students in the control group. Predicted HED was also significantly reduced for those that received the intervention.

Take away: Parents continue shaping their children’s drinking behaviors well into college, which makes parents a promising avenue for interventions in order to reach students at risk for heavy drinking during the transition to college. This study also supports social-norms-based college drinking interventions, whether applied to parents or peers. Colleges may consider adapting their orientation programs to incorporate alcohol use as a topic presented to parents of first-year college students.

LaBrie, J.W., Earle, A.M., Boyle, S.C., Hummer, J.F., Montes, K., Turrisi, R., and Napper, L.E. (2016) A parent-based intervention reduces heavy episodic drinking among first-year college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30(5), 523-535.