Study: Strict Parenting Leads to Teen Drug Use

HIGHTIMES

Parents who keep their progeny on a short leash end up raising teens that imbibe often, according to a new study.

A team of researchers, overseen by the European Institute of Studies on Prevention, recently got together to explore how specific variations in parenting might influence children to experiment withalcohol, tobacco and marijuana. The ultimate goal in this experiment was to establish what type of relationship between a parent and child was most likely to prevent teens from embarking down the road of the drunk and stoned.

In order to make this determination, researchers surveyed more that 7,000 kids between the ages of 11 and 19, and asked whether they considered their parents strict or lenient. What they found was parents who used the concept of reasoning with their children, as opposed to an iron fist, were more likely to convince kids to stay away from mind-altering substances.

“Our results support the idea that extremes are not effective: neither authoritarianism nor absence of control and affection. A good relationship with children works well. In this respect, it can go hand-in-hand with direct control (known as authoritative) or not (indulgent),” said lead study author Amador Calafat, in the latest issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

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