Ac. Fletcher et Bc. Jefferies, Parental mediators of associations between perceived authoritative parenting and early adolescent substance use, J EARLY ADO, 19(4), 1999, pp. 465-487
Assessed in this study was whether a variety of specific parental behaviors
mediated associations between perceived authoritative parenting and early
adolescent substance use. Eighth-grade students (N = 182) completed questio
nnaires about their perceptions of parental warmth, behavioral control, and
psychological autonomy granting, which were used to compute a measure of p
erceived parental authoritativeness Adolescents indicated their perceptions
of parents' acceptance of; and likely responses to, substance use. During
telephone interviews, one parent of each of 113 adolescents indicated the e
xtent to which he or she used specific strategies aimed at preventing offsp
ring from engaging in substance use. Perceived authoritative parenting was
associated with lower levels of substance use among boys and among girls. P
erceived parental disciplinary consequences of engaging in substance use me
diated associations between perceived authoritative parenting and girl's su
bstance use. Associations between perceived parental authoritativeness and
boys' substance use were nor linked by any specific parental behaviors.