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Family experience and the motives for drinking
The International Journal of the Addictions
|April 1, 1980
Summary
Family socialization impacts college students' drinking motives. Maternal drinking and parental relationship extremes correlate with increased reasons for drinking, suggesting risk for problem drinking.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Public Health
Background:
- Family socialization significantly influences individual behaviors.
- Understanding the roots of drinking motives is crucial for prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between family socialization experiences and the seriousness of drinking motives in college students.
- To identify specific family dynamics that may predict problematic drinking behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Correlational analysis was employed with 128 college students.
- Independent variables were orthogonalized to assess linear and curvilinear relationships.
- Drinking motives were assessed based on family socialization factors.
Main Results:
- Maternal intoxication frequency positively correlated with the number of drinking reasons.
- Extreme parental closeness/distance linked to drinking for self-esteem enhancement.
- Ambiguous paternal drinking norms related to personal/interpersonal drinking reasons.
Conclusions:
- Maternal deviant drinking, weak paternal norms, and extreme parental dynamics increase risk for problem drinking.
- Poor self-esteem, stemming from family conditions, is a necessary but not sufficient cause.
- Findings inform alcoholism prevention programs targeting family socialization.