The study investigated parenting styles and accessibility as factors influence adolescents attitude towards drinking. Two Hundred and Forty Three (243) adolescents (143 males and 101females) were drawn from the departments of Political Science/Public Administration and Physics in Akwa Ibom State University Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin. Using convenience sampling technique. Their age ranged from 16 to 20 with a mean age of (x =18.76.Three instrument were used for the study, parenting style scale developed by Robinson Mandleco, Olsen and Hart (1995), which is a 26 item scale, accessibility scale developed by Ibiok (2014) which is a 3 item scale and attitude towards drinking and alcoholism scale developed by Basu, Mathotra Varma and Malhotra (1998) which is a 5 item scale. The instruments were pilot-tested to be suitable for the Nigerian sample. 2 x 2 factorial design was adopted for the study. A two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis. Results revealed that parenting style had a significant influence on adolescents attitude towards drinking [F(1, 239) = 4.39; p < 0.5] . Results also showed that accessibility had a significant influence on adolescents attitude toward drinking [F(1,239) = 26.00; P<0.05]. Result also revealed that there was no interaction effects of both parenting style and accessibility on adolescents attitude toward drinking [F(1,239) = 0.54; P > 0.5]. Implication and recommendation were made in line with the findings of the study.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Alcohol drinking is common in many countries of the world. Its consumption is a cultural activity and is used in many celebration and rituals. Despite the fact that alcohol is classified as depressant, majority of people consume it for stimulant effect.
World Health Organisation (WHO), 2004 had earlier ranked Nigeria among the thirty nations with the highest per capital consumption level of alcohol worldwide. WHO (2009) report revealed no decline in consumption; the report shows that Nigeria consumed 10:57 litres of alcohol per head of population (one of the highest in Africa). In both developed and developing societies, alcohol plays a significant role in leisure activities and in certain cultural and religious tradition. Alcohol remains the most widely used substance among adolescent and study shows that the proportion of youth who use alcohol increases during adolescence (Bahr, Anastosis & Maughan 1995; Duncan & Strycler, 2006).
World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies adolescence as the period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood from ages 10 to 19 years. It represents one of the critical transitions in the life span and is characterized by a tremendous pace in growth and change that is second only to that of infancy. They biological determinant of adolescence are fairly universal, however, the duration and defining characteristics of this period may vary across time, cultures and socioeconomics situation. Johnson, O’mally and Bachman, (2001) in their survey report indicated that most adolescents have tried alcohol, 51% in secondary level, and 80.3% in undergraduate level.
Alcohol use among adolescents is on the increase. An early study shows a relatively lower rate of alcohol consumption compared to recent studies.
Biederman, Monuteaux and Mick (2006) reported that studies in the 1970s revealed that adolescents alcohol consumption was around 5.1% to 7.3% among males and 23.5% among females. In the 1980s, Mussen, Maccoby and Martin, (1983) reported that alcohol consumption level among adolescents increased to about 12% – 22% among males and about 5% to 11% among females.
However, recent studies reveal an alarming increase rate on attitude toward drinking among adolescents. According to Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance, (2001), 78% reported they had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more days during their life, 47% of students reported having at least one drink on one or more days preceding the survey, while 30% reported engaging in having drinking on one or more of the 30days preceding the survey.
In the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (2011) estimated that 87% of European adolescent’s age 15 – 16 years had ever used alcohol, 54% which were males. Among Swedish adolescents in the age range 15 – 16 years, 46% reported a positive attitude toward drinking in the past year (Hibell, Guttorinssion, & Ahlstrom 2011). There is dearth of literature in Nigeria in regard to adolescents’ attitude toward drinking, however, Johnson (2015) reported that 16 – 19% of college male students consume alcohol while 9 – 13% of female reported to have used alcohol in the past year.
Studies have revealed differences in adolescent attitude toward drinking among male and female adolescents. Straus and Bacon (1965) reported that male adolescents consumed alcohol than female adolescents and show a more positive attitude towards it than their female counterpart. Rarfrey (1997) reported a higher incidence of drinking among male adolescents than female adolescent. A more recent study by Hanson (2006) also reported than male adolescents drinking alcohol than female adolescents.
Furthermore, Banks and Smith (2009) in their studies using 15,000 colleges studies reported than male adolescents drink alcohol than female adolescents. Straus and Bacon (1953) explained that this gap may be due to cultural norms. It is more accepted in most cultures for a male to drink alcohol than the female. Hence, parents may show less disciplinary action against their male children that drinks alcohol compare to their female children. Another reason advanced by Hanson (2006) is that male hangs out more with friends into late night while female are expected to be at home to help out in house chores. This situation exposes the male more to be influenced by friends to drink alcohol.
Attitude is a predisposition or a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person or situation. Attitude influences an individual’s choice of action and responses to challenges, incentives and rewards (Ajzen 2001). An attitude is an evaluation of an attitude object, ranging from extremely negative to extremely positive.
The attitude of an individual consists of three components, namely cognitive, affective and behavioural. The cognitive component includes beliefs, facts and information about the object. The affective components describe the emotional reactions towards an object and the behavioural component includes the behaviours associated with the object. These three components are interrelated. Individuals’ behaviours are influence by their feeling (affective) and beliefs (cognitive).
In addition, the cognitive and affective components of individuals are influenced by factors such as culture, religion, education and past experience (Baron & Byme 1977).
Historically, the social scientific studies on attitude have focused on the general relationship between attitude and behaviour. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) presented the concept that attitude are formed by information from those beliefs that people have about the attitude object.
According to Myers (1990), the theory that attitudes are earned through mere exposure, conditioning and socialization is more widely accepted by the psychologist and social scientist.
In addition Myers (1990) reported that the attitude can be acquired from others through social learning in the form of classical conditioning, modeling and direct experience.
Many factors are showed in research to influence adolescents’ attitude towards drinking. They include curiosity, sensation seeking, ignorance of dangers, means of forgetting worries, bad experience on impulse without considering the possible consequences, loneliness, poor stress management skills (Gordon, Conley & Gordian, 2013) other factors are availability of alcohol, peer influence, proximity, family type, parenting style (McCarthy Lynch, Pederson, 2007). However, factors that are of interest in this study are parenting style and accessibility.
Parenting style has been showed to influence Adolescents’ attitude towards drinking (Hirschi, 1969). Baumrid, (1967) identified three major parenting styles based on two important aspects of parenting. Responsiveness (the degree to which the parents are responsive and warm to the child) and Demanding parents (the degree to which the parent expects mature behaviour, and exert control over the child (Baumrid, 1967).
Parenting styles identified by Baumrid which encompassed the majority of families were: Authoritative; being responsive to the child’s feelings and needs while also being demanding, Authoritarian, being controlling with beliefs that child should be kept in place and permissive, accepting and non-punitive, with few demands on the model by demandingness and low responsiveness from permissive parenting and thus parenting styles based on the four combinations of high/low on the aspects of responsiveness and demandingness. This classification has become widely used in the context of adolescents attitude towards drinking (Becona, Martinez & Calafat, 2015).
A recent review shows that most studies find that authoritative parenting is associated with best outcomes regarding adolescent attitude towards drinking and neglectful parenting with the worst (Becona, Martinez, Calafat, 2015). Specifically, many studies have shown that authoritative parenting is associated with negative attitude towards drinking among adolescent (Becona et al., 2015).
Adalbjarnardottir and Hafstainsson, (2001), Shakya, Christakis and Fowler, (2012), Calova, Pazderkova and Miovsky, (2015), Chassin, Pression and Rose (2005) in their study on alcohol drinking among adolescents reported that adolescents raised by authoritative parents are less likely to report a positive attitude toward alcohol drinking.
Studies comparing parenting style on alcohol assumption show that only about 2.58% adolescents raised by authoritative parents were engaged in drinking (Chassin, 2005; Foater, 2012) Specifically, Foater (2012) study on adolescents’ attitudes toward alcohol drinking revealed that adolescents raised by authoritative parents showed a negative attitude towards alcohol drinking than those raised by any other kind of parents. Authoritative parenting was strongly correlated with a negative attitude towards drinking (Becona et al., 2015).
On the other hand, adolescents raised by authoritarian parents generally report a positive attitude toward alcohol drinking than adolescents raised by authoritative parents (Shucksmith, Glendinning, Hendry, 1997)
Approximately, more than 17% of adolescents that showed a positive attitude towards alcohol drinking are adolescents raised by authoritarian parents (Shucksmith et al., 1997).
Another variable of interest in this study is accessibility. Drinking occurs in all kinds of setting throughout the community, in homes, parks, schools, workplaces, theatres. Drinking also accompanies a wide variety of social events ranging from christening, funerals, sports events, date outing, birthday parties. Perhaps no drug is as available and accessible as alcohol. Adolescent use alcohol as dinnertime relaxant, a bed-time sedative, a cock-tail party social facilitator. Some use it to celebrate academic achievement and even to celebrate holy days (Edwards, 1954). This makes alcohol accessible even to adolescents, hence, influencing their attitude towards drinking.
Accessibility though is a very complex concept it embraces not only sheer physical availability, but also what can be called emotional availability (Gossop & Grant, 1990).
To a large extent, alcohol is used because they are accessible. More social groups use whatever drink they have easy access to. To the extent, that adolescents’ attitude towards drinking has unduly been attributed to high levels of accessibility (Gossop & Grant, 1990).
Murrary & Perry (2005) define accessibility in terms of how much time, energy and money must be expended to obtain a commodity. The more resources required, the lower the accessibility. The cheaper it is, the more people are likely to show a positive attitude towards drinking because it is more accessible than when the price is high (Williams et al., 2000). Adolescents may show a negative attitude towards alcohol when they have less access to it due to the price (Olsson, 1995) without easy access, there will be less use and associated problems. As a social rule, when alcohol is expensive, convenient and easily accessible, adolescents are more likely to show a positive attitude towards drinking (Johnson, 1995). Conversely, when alcohol is inexpensive, inconvenient, and inaccessible, people are less likely to show a negative attitude toward drinking (Myer, 2011). Thus, when alcohol is less accessible, adolescents are likely to show a negative attitude towards its drinking than when accessibility level is high (Hodder and Wallace, 1998).
Harrison and Pottieger, (1996) in their study reported that about 80% adolescents in America has access to alcohol. About 30 – 45% of adolescents in America drink alcohol. To Harrison and Pottieger (1996), the high rate of drinking among adolescent is as a result of the level of accessibility. Furthermore, Williams, Patrick, Song, Quentin and Lynne (2000) revealed that the level of accessibility of alcohol to adolescents has risen to more than 90% over the years; report from his study also revealed that alcohol consumption among adolescents was correlated with the level of accessibility. Olsson (1995) concluded from his study that “if alcohol is readily accessible and the climate of the society is permissive, a large numbers of adolescents are going to drink it, even if the individual’s dispositions (e.g in terms of heredity, childhood, having condition) are not obviously present.
From the foregoing, this study is set to investigate how parental styles and accessibility may influence adolescents’ attitude toward drinking.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Despite efforts directed at reducing the rate of alcohol consumption among adolescents, adolescents’ attitude toward drinking has showed no positive change (Mason, Walker, 2004).
The adverse effects of alcohol drinking arising from adolescent attitude towards it are alarming and call for more intervention by able institutions. These effects are obvious in the recent decline in adolescent’s academic performance, increase in social vices, peer violence and other forms of misbehaviours. Other effects of a positive attitude towards drinking among adolescents range from increased level of alcohol dependent, school violence, examination malpractice etc (Smart, 2007).
This increase level of drinking among adolescents rising from adolescents’ attitude towards drinking is associated with parenting styles. Parenting styles has been found in literature to influence adolescents’ attitude toward drinking (Cohen and Rice, 1997)
Studies also reveal that accessibility of alcohol to adolescents is another factor showed to influence their attitude towards alcohol drinking. To arrive at an empirically based understanding on how these two variables may influence adolescents’ attitude towards drinking. The following questions will be examined:
1. Does parenting styles influence adolescents’ attitude toward alcohol drinking?
2. Does accessibility of alcohol influence adolescents’ attitude toward alcohol drinking?
1.3 purpose of the study
The main aim of this study is to examine how factors such as parenting styles and accessibility influences adolescents’ attitude towards drinking.
1.4 Significance of the Study
This study will be significant to several people and institutions
· Parents and guidance will benefit immensely from research findings as result will provide a clue to the most suitable parenting style in regard to curbing the increasing rate of alcohol consumption among adolescents.
· Therapists in alcohol related problems will also benefit from research findings as they will be better equipped with best recommendation to parents and guidance’s, on how to best train their children to reduce their likelihood of using alcohol.
· Moreso, therapist, based on research findings will be better equipped to offer counseling and guiding services to drugs enforcement agencies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Nigeria and United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) of the United Nations on Policy making in regard to where alcoholic product could be sold, advertised and the price, in order to reduce accessibility of alcoholic products, hence, discouraging adolescents positive attitude towards alcohol drinking.
PARENTING STYLE AND ACCESSIBILITY AS FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST ADOLESCENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS DRINKING
