Parental behaviour and alcohol misuse among adolescents: A path analysis of mediating influences

Abstract

This study investigated the possible effects of parents' alcohol consumption and permissiveness on alcohol misuse among a sample of rural Australian high school students. It sought to determine whether these effects were mediated by three central variables from Ajzen's (1985, 1991) theory of planned behaviour (TPB): Attitudes toward alcohol use, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. Our results suggest the TPB variables fully mediated the effects of the parent variables on adolescent alcohol misuse, and that the mediational paths were similar for both male and female adolescents.