# Parent-adolescent alcohol discussions and parent alcohol socialization

> **NIH NIH R01** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2024 · $701,621

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Early alcohol use is associated with many negative psychosocial and health outcomes and delaying initiation of
drinking and promoting effective harm reduction remains an important public health goal. Parents are an early
potent source of alcohol socialization. Though parental modeling of drinking has been studied extensively,
much less research has considered other ways in which parents socialize youth about alcohol (alcohol-specific
socialization). This proposal focuses on prevalent modes of alcohol-specific socialization, discussions about
the risks of alcohol and sipping/tasting alcohol with parental supervision. An alarming finding is that these
modes of parental alcohol-specific socialization are not uniformly protective, and in fact, can increase risk for
drinking. It is critically important to understand the reasons underlying these unexpected findings as this has
enormous implications for guidance provided to parents. Interpersonal interactions are the medium through
which parent socialization operates, and we propose that it is necessary to consider the quality and nature of
parent-adolescent dyadic interactions to fully understand parent alcohol-specific socialization and harm
reduction efforts. This study builds on interpersonal theory to characterize the quality and nature of parent-
adolescent dyadic interactions using (1) continuous assessment of interpersonal dynamics (CAID) during
discussions about alcohol and (2) assessments of parenting style to address the following aims using a
longitudinal sample of 250 early adolescent-parent dyads: (1) Characterize parent-child dyadic interactions
during discussion of alcohol and other topics using CAID; (2) Test the association of frequency of parent-child
alcohol risk discussions and sipping/tasting alcohol with trajectories of adolescent attitudes and beliefs about
alcohol (cognitive susceptibility to drinking) and trajectories of alcohol use, and whether characteristics of
dyadic interactions and parenting style moderate these associations; (3) Test adolescent alcohol attitudes and
beliefs (cognitive susceptibility to drinking) as potential mediators of associations with alcohol use described in
aim 2; (4) Test change in parent-adolescent dyadic interactions and parenting style during the transition from
early to middle adolescence and the association of these changes with in alcohol use. Addressing these aims
will provide much needed clarity on parent alcohol-specific socialization and provide guidance for more
effective public health messaging and preventive interventions.
Evidence for parental harm reduction efforts to reduce risk for underage drinking is mixed. The proposed
research addresses a critical need to clarify parent-adolescent interpersonal dynamics that render prevalent
parental harm reduction efforts protective or risk enhancing. Findings from this study will inform public health
messages and preventive intervention approaches to consider not just what pa...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10893564
- **Project number:** 5R01AA030988-02
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** CRAIG R COLDER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $701,621
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10893564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10893564, Parent-adolescent alcohol discussions and parent alcohol socialization (5R01AA030988-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10893564. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*