Seven out of ten young people adhere to alcohol agreements with their parents

11.09.2024 - Although it can be challenging for parents to manage their teenagers' drinking habits, it's a good idea to get involved. A new survey confirms that agreements about alcohol work.

Over the past month, thousands of young people have started secondary education. For many of them, their alcohol consumption will increase with the beginning of their studies. Many parents may be concerned about how much their teenager is drinking when they go out and unsure of how much they should intervene in their teenagers' drinking habits—especially as they start secondary education.

But parents can breathe a sigh of relief. A new study confirms that agreements about how much young people can drink and when they should be home are effective.

Most 15- to 20-year-olds who live at home and have agreements with their parents about alcohol follow these agreements. Nearly seven out of ten young people always or mostly stick to the rules. Only three percent never follow the agreements.

“It’s really positive that parents can actually have an influence on their teenager’s alcohol consumption. It requires ongoing, good dialogue and concrete agreements that both parties are comfortable with. When that happens, most young people do follow the agreements,” says Peter Dalum, project manager at the Danish Cancer Society and TrygFonden’s alcohol initiative Full of Life.

The fact that alcohol agreements work is good news for many parents, especially those with children who have just started secondary education. Another new study from Full of Life shows that one in four parents of 15- to 17-year-olds find it challenging to manage their child’s drinking habits. Nearly 40% of parents found it harder to get involved in their child’s drinking habits once they started secondary education.

What can parents do?

It can be difficult for parents to maintain a dialogue about alcohol when their children become teenagers, start going to parties, and maybe begin drinking alcohol. How should the topic be raised? And will the child even listen?

These are completely natural questions for parents to ask themselves. Fortunately, help is available. At www.alkoholdning.dk, parents can find inspiration on how to approach the issue, have discussions, and make agreements with their teenager about alcohol. This initiative is part of Full of Life, by the Danish Cancer Society and TrygFonden.

The Danish Cancer Society has also released a podcast series that can help parents and other interested parties understand the role of parents in relation to alcohol, what happens in a young teenage brain, and how to talk to your teenager about alcohol.

About the data

The findings in this article come from two different surveys.

In one, 15- to 20-year-olds living at home were asked, among other things, whether they adhere to alcohol agreements made with their parents. Data was collected by Norstat. You can read more in the report "Young People's Alcohol Habits in Denmark 2023."

The second survey is based on responses from 900 parents of children aged 15-17. Data was collected by Epinion in collaboration with Norstat. More information can be found in the memo "Parents' Experiences in Managing Their Children's Alcohol Habits."

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Source: https://www.cancer.dk/