Summary: Yes, there is a connection between parenting style and adolescent substance misuse. Evidence from a large-scale study conducted in Europe shows that on a continuum of most permissive to least permissive, parenting styles at the extreme ends the continuum may increase risk of substance misuse, while parenting styles in the middle may decrease risk of substance misuse.
Key Points:
- Adolescence is a developmental phase characterized, in part, by novelty-seeking and risk-taking.
- Experimentation with alcohol and substances is a common mode of risk-taking and adolescent differentiation.
- The adolescent brain changes and grows rapidly and dramatically during the teen years, which increases vulnerability to structural and functional changes caused by alcohol and substances.
- Alcohol and substance use during adolescence increases risk of disordered use during adolescence and adulthood
Four Families, Four Parenting Styles: What’s the Connection Between Parenting Styles and Adolescent Substance Misuse?
First, we’ll offer a snapshot into family life in each of the four primary parenting styles.
Three of these styles – authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive – were first identified in the 1960s by pioneering psychologist and researcher Diana Baumrind. The fourth style, neglectful, was added as Dr. Baumrind and others developed and expanded parenting style typologies over the ensuing decades.
Here are the four styles:
- Authoritarian
- Authoritative
- Indulgent, also called Permissive
- Neglectful, also called Uninvolved
Here’s a brief description of these parenting styles in their common application/appearance. We’ll examine how each parenting style may affect adolescent substance misuse.
Family 1: The Authoritarian Style
In this family, everything is black and white. The father or mother rules with an iron fist. Their spouse supports them in all ways. The kids in this family learn early on not to argue with their parents, and not to question any rules of the house.
Things are done one way, and one way only. Anything else results in punishment. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. The kids have no input, no bargaining power, and no voice. When they start hearing about alcohol/substance use from their peers, mom and dad lay down the law: never in our house. The consequences will be dire. When the kids try to ask questions, parents shut the conversation down. The word is final: don’t use substances, ever. Don’t drink, ever. There’s no need to know anything about them, because they’re not an option. End of discussion.
Family 2: The Authoritative Style
In this family, there’s a little bit of gray area. The parents have strong ideas about what they believe is right and wrong, but they do not force them on their children as absolutes.
Early in life, the kids learn that there will be consequences for breaking the rules of the house, but the reasons behind the rules are explained calmly and with loving care. The kids are allowed to ask questions, voice their opinions, and possibly even change their parents’ minds about some things. When kids start hearing about alcohol /substance use from their peers, mom and dad sit down with them and have open and honest discussions about the issues. They talk about the pros and cons of experimentation, and the consequences both at home and out in the world for drinking and using substances. The discussion is ongoing and based on facts. As the kids learn more from their peers, they ask their parents more. They get straight answers, and they become well informed.
Family 3: The Indulgent Style
In this family, you’ll find all the colors of the rainbow. From the outside, it may look like a free-for-all, with an operating philosophy best described as laissez-faire.
The parents are loving, affectionate, and kind to the kids, but there are very few hard-and-fast rules in this household. Since there are very few rules, there are very few consequences. The parents believe their children intuitively know what’s best for them and believe that the best policy is to let them be and simply support and love them. The kids learn early on that they can set their own bedtimes, eat what they want, play how they want, and come and go as they please.
When they do break one of the few household rules, they learn that they can negotiate themselves out of any consequences.
When they start learning about alcohol /substance use from their peers, mom and dad tell them may discuss the risks of using, but don’t impose hard limits. The kids get the message that while alcohol and substance use may be dangerous. However, they’re not categorically forbidden from experimenting and learning for themselves.
Family 4: The Neglectful Style
In this family, there is no color. There is very little love, almost no affection, and the children are largely ignored. For a variety of reasons, the parents in this family are otherwise occupied and pay little attention to their kids.
They may provide basic food and shelter – but that’s about it. Rules are rare and consequences are inconsistent. When the kids learn about alcohol /substance use from their peers, they are left to their own devices. The parents do not take the time to educate them, make rules, or pay any attention to the new phase of life the kids are entering. The kids are forced to learn the facts for themselves, make their own decisions based on whatever knowledge they do find, and experience whatever consequences occur on their own, without the help, support, or guidance of their parents.
Which Parenting Style Increases Risk?
In the study we link to in the introductory summary to this article, “Which Parenting Style is More Protective Against Adolescent Substance Use? Evidence Within the European Context” published in 2014 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence (Vol. 138), Dr. Amador Calafat et al conclude that, of the parenting styles described above, the first and fourth put kids most at risk for adolescent substance misuse. The evidence suggests that both the indulgent and the authoritative styles can be equally effective in deterring adolescent drug use:
“… 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 democratic style) or not (style wrongly called ‘indulgent’)”
The volume of adolescents involved in this study is impressive. Researchers interviewed over 7,000 teens between the ages of 11 and 19. The sample size, combined with the fact that the conclusions make logical sense to parents and non-professionals, gives this study practical weight. It’s logical that kids living in an authoritarian atmosphere might want to differentiate by experimenting with alcohol, substances, or other risky behavior. It’s also logical that kids with no guidance at all – the neglected kids – may likewise find their way into problematic behavior.
Finally, what makes the most sense about this study is that what feels like common sense – or practical wisdom – is supported by science. The middle path is best, communication is essential, and knowledge is power.
