Understanding the role of parents’ attitudes in children’s alcohol use: Evaluation of a universal parent-oriented alcohol consumption prevention programme
type: CreativeWork
description: Alcohol use is considered as one of the risk factors that contribute to social and physical harm and disease development globally. Alcohol use onset usually takes place long before adulthood and the surrounding environment has a central role in the development of alcohol use behaviour among children. Thus, targeting parents in prevention programmes has become more common in the past 20 years. This thesis aimed to investigate the relationship between parental attitudes towards children’s alcohol use and their children’s alcohol use and to evaluate a universal parent-oriented alcohol use prevention programme. A systematic review and meta-analysis (k=29 studies) of observational and experimental studies was conducted to assess the former. The findings showed that children whose parents had less restrictive attitudes towards children’s alcohol use had 1.45 (95% CI=1.17–1.80) times higher odds of initiating alcohol use, 1.52 (95% CI=1.24–1.86) times higher odds of drinking alcohol frequently, and 1.58 (95% CI=1.35–1.85) times higher odds of getting drunk. A similar relationship was present between perceived parental attitudes and children’s alcohol use frequency (OR=1.76, 95% CI=1.29–2.40), but no evidence was found for a relationship between perceived attitudes and alcohol use initiation (OR=1.65, 95% CI=0.93–2.94). When data from the Effekt trial was included, the change in pooled effect sizes was mostly marginal. The only exception involved the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and children’s alcohol use initiation, which became statistically significant (OR=1.55, 95% CI=1.14–2.11). Parental attitudes were only weakly positively correlated with perceived parental attitudes (r=0.27, p≤0.001). These findings confirmed and extended the earlier findings presented by Swedish researchers 20 years ago who developed a prevention programme (ÖPP, later called Effekt) to delay and reduce alcohol use among 13–16-year-old children by targeting parental attitudes. T…
abstract: Alcohol use is considered as one of the risk factors that contribute to social and physical harm and disease development globally. Alcohol use onset usually takes place long before adulthood and the surrounding environment has a central role in the development of alcohol use behaviour among children. Thus, targeting parents in prevention programmes has become more common in the past 20 years. This thesis aimed to investigate the relationship between parental attitudes towards children’s alcohol use and their children’s alcohol use and to evaluate a universal parent-oriented alcohol use prevention programme. A systematic review and meta-analysis (k=29 studies) of observational and experimental studies was conducted to assess the former. The findings showed that children whose parents had less restrictive attitudes towards children’s alcohol use had 1.45 (95% CI=1.17–1.80) times higher odds of initiating alcohol use, 1.52 (95% CI=1.24–1.86) times higher odds of drinking alcohol frequently, and 1.58 (95% CI=1.35–1.85) times higher odds of getting drunk. A similar relationship was present between perceived parental attitudes and children’s alcohol use frequency (OR=1.76, 95% CI=1.29–2.40), but no evidence was found for a relationship between perceived attitudes and alcohol use initiation (OR=1.65, 95% CI=0.93–2.94). When data from the Effekt trial was included, the change in pooled effect sizes was mostly marginal. The only exception involved the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and children’s alcohol use initiation, which became statistically significant (OR=1.55, 95% CI=1.14–2.11). Parental attitudes were only weakly positively correlated with perceived parental attitudes (r=0.27, p≤0.001). These findings confirmed and extended the earlier findings presented by Swedish researchers 20 years ago who developed a prevention programme (ÖPP, later called Effekt) to delay and reduce alcohol use among 13–16-year-old children by targeting parental attitudes. T…
author: Tael-Oeren, Mariliis
language: en
keywords: Children, Adolescents, Effekt programme, Cluster-randomised controlled trial, Attitudes, Parents, Drunkenness, Meta-analysis, Systematic review, Teachers, Thematic analysis, Qualitative, Individual interviews, Focus group, Alcohol use, Prevention, Facilitators, Estonia, Behaviour change, Public health
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/71883c77-b141-4576-8379-2837864432c2/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2020-07-18
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:33:11Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.48352