Contrary to popular belief, most parents are aware of and can accurately evaluate the extent of their teenager's drinking, cigarette smoking, marijuana use and overall substance abuse. Parents who underestimate their teen's substance abuse usually do so because they have personal substance abuse issues themselves.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions studied 75 parents and their teens over a six-month period, comparing the parents' evaluations to the teens' reports of substance use. Unlike previous studies, these teens were not in treatment for substance abuse during the study.

Parents Aware of Extent of Drug Use

The researchers found that of the 75 parents:

• 82 percent accurately evaluated the presence of cigarette smoking.
  
• 86 percent accurately evaluated the presence of teen alcohol use.
  
• 86 percent accurately reported the presence of teen marijuana use.
  
• 72 percent accurately reported the presence of other illicit drug use.

"This study begins to dispel the notion that parents don't know the extent to which their teens are using cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs. It seems that, despite a few exceptions, many parents do know the extent of their teenager's substance use," said lead researcher Neil B. McGillicuddy PhD, in a news release. "Parents can use this knowledge to help themselves cope with teenage substance use and the resulting stress on the family, as well as to begin conversations with their teen about making changes."

Parents Have Their Own Problems

Of the parents in the study who under reported their teen's substance abuse the study found:

• The parent had personal problems such as stress or depression.
  
• The parent tended to drink frequently.
  
• If the teens were younger than 16.
  
• If the parent did less monitoring of after-school activities.

The study authors suggests that parents consider increasing their monitoring of their teen's time after school, at night and on weekends and begin addressing substance abuse issues with their teens at an earlier age.

"What we would hope that people come away with from this study, is that parents can be more aware of their teen's substance use," McGillicuddy explained, "by reducing their own alcohol use, giving more attention to what their teen is doing 24/7, particularly if the teen is younger, and taking steps to reduce their own psychological distress. Participation in parenting programs, especially those geared toward coping with an adolescent's substance use, can give the parent important skills to deal with teen behavior and have been found to reduce the parent's distress."

The RIA study was published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse.

More Information:

• Is Your Child Using Drugs or Alcohol?
  
• How Will Your Child Drink?
  
• Tips for Parents

^{Photo: Clipart.com}