Alcohol use is a known prevalent issue among college students. Parental influences can have a significant impact on a student’s alcohol intake. Previous studies have shown students who perceive their parents as having lower limits on underage drinking tend to consume less alcohol. A lot of programs encourage parents to set drinking limits with their children who are entering college. Along with this, parents must be able to effectively communicate with their child in order to be most effective. This article aims to examine the effects of hypothetical limit-focused text messages on drinking behavior.
There were 253 participants, all either first or second-year and between 18 and 20 years old. Each participant was randomly assigned 1 of 4 text message conditions. Each condition represented a different level of parental limiting setting. The number of anticipated drinks was assessed with and without the requirement to check in with parents at the night’s end. The students were asked to imagine a hypothetical scenario where they planned to go out to a party and consume alcohol. Part of the scenario is that the student is presented with a simulated text message from one of their parents. Students were then also asked to complete measures that assessed their alcohol identification and perceived parental monitoring and control.
The results of this study expanded on previous research. They suggested that text messages from either parent that indicate a drinking limit of zero will likely result in the least amount of alcohol consumed on the night the message was received but specifying 1-2 drinking yielded similar results. This study acknowledges that, realistically, students may be more likely to adhere to drinking limits of 1-2 drink in regards to long-term intervention. More research is needed to understand the effectiveness of entirely varied text messaging strategies in real-life settings, but this study helped provide initial insight.
Takeaway: Parents who set a zero drinking limit and those who specified a 1-2 drinking limit yielded the lowest alcohol consumption.