Drinking With Younger Jews Dissertation

Parenting Style Influence on Excess Alcohol Intake Among Jewish Youth

Ross

Master of Science, Mental Health Counseling, College, January, 2008

Clinical Psychology

Anticipated; December, 2016

The health hazards that are associated with adolescent alcohol use are well documented, and there is growing recognition among policymakers and clinicians alike that more needs to be done to address this public health threat. The purpose of this study will be to examine the effects of different parenting styles on alcohol consumption levels among Jewish college students in the United States. The study draws on attachment theory, social learning theory, and a parenting style model as the main theoretical frameworks to evaluate the effects of different parenting styles on alcohol consumption levels among Jewish adolescents to develop informed answers to the study's three guiding research questions concerning the relationship between perceived parenting style and excess alcohol use of male, Jewish, college students aged 18-26 years, the relationship between academic achievement and the alcohol use frequency of male Jewish college students and the relationship between age level and the alcohol use frequency of male Jewish college students. The study uses a quantitative survey methodology to develop the informed answers to these guiding research questions. This study is important because there has been a steady increase in alcohol consumption among adolescent Jews since 2005 and the adverse effects of alcohol abuse are well documented. The goal of this study is to increase parental awareness of the problems of underage drinking among Jewish youth. This will trigger enhanced awareness to aid future research to effect positive behavioral social change. Comment by Microsoft Office User: this is the problem not the social change. You need to make a sentence that discusses social change and uses the word social change.

Parenting Style Influence on Excess Alcohol Intake Among Jewish Youth

Ross

Master of Science, Mental Health Counseling, College, January, 2008

Clinical Psychology

Anticipated; December, 2016

A Personal Letter to Raise Community Awareness on Alcohol

There is an individual who under the influence of alcohol had a fatal accident while operating machinery; another, who got into a car, struck and killed innocent young pedestrians while they envisioned a promising future in the process of crossing a local street, and finally the woman who couldn't give birth to a healthy child due to her chemical dependence / addiction. Unfortunately, alcohol's influence on today's youth is a disturbing reality. The stories of Alcohol's current events never seem to change, only the characters. These narratives as we all know are far too familiar. Alcohol's traction has managed a painful grip on our young adults. It's time to weather the storm on the turbulent scars we have all bared witness to. Too many lives fall victim to excess alcohol intake, knowing just how easily accessible alcohol truly is to our community youth. Some of the other health and social concerns associated with alcohol use include liver cirrhosis, loss of family, unemployment, and psychiatric problems such as neurological issues, depression, and stroke. The CDC (2012) has also linked cardiovascular problems to high consumption levels of alcohol. In addition, the research to date using animals indicate sensitivity to alcohol is especially high during adolescence, and chronic levels of alcohol use during the adolescent period have also been shown to increase cellular death that may have severe implications that can persist into later adulthood. Reflecting on publishing's "while under the influence ... " annual statistics, there is a clear overdue necessity to a healthier and more productive society. Imagine a better future with positive social change, beginning now.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study 1

Adolescent Use of Alcohol 1

Background for Adolescent Use of Alcohol 5

Alcohol and the Jewish Community 7

Social Groups 9

Jewish Social Groups 10

Problem Statement 11

Purpose Statement 14

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 15

Research Question 18

Variables 18

Nature of the Study 19

Definitions 20

Assumptions 21

Scope and Delimitations 21

Limitations 22

Significance of the Study 23

Organization of the Study 24

Conclusion

Chapter 2: Literature Review 25

Introduction 25

Attachment Theory 25

Prevalence of Alcohol Use Among Adolescents 27

Health Effects of Drinking Alcohol 28

Factors Associated with Adolescent Drinking 29

Alcohol and Peer Pressure 30

Alcohol and Family 31

Attitudes and Alcohol Use 33

Parenting Style and Alcohol Use 36

Parenting Styles 38

Parenting Influences on the Development of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence 42

General Parenting Effects on Child Outcomes 44

Parenting Effects on Alcohol Abuse of Offspring 44

Judaism and Alcohol Use 44

Alcohol Use and Gender Differences in the Jewish Religion 48

Alcohol Use Among Jewish College Students 49

Theoretical Framework 49

Methods 52

Summary 53

Chapter 3: Research Methods 54

Research Question 54

Population/Sample 56

Instruments 57

Procedure 59

Participants 60

Measurement 60

Limitations 62

Ethical Considerations 62

References 68

Table 1. A Sample Table Showing Correct Formatting 5

When you update the list of tables, the table number and title will come in without a period between them; you will need to manually add that period after all table numbers, as shown for Table 1. In addition, the title will retain the italics from the narrative when the List of Tables is updated. Once your list is finalized, select the entire list and change into plain type.

List of Figures

Figure 1.Independent variable of perceived parenting style relationship with dependent variable alcohol consumption. 19

ix

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Introduction Comment by Microsoft Office User: It seems like this section should begin the introduction. What you have above as the introduction is not a really good start to the dissertation. It just seems like random thoughts.Switched from the middle as noted.

Young adult and teen drinking are rising and acknowledged as a significant family and social challenge (Yang et al., 2010). Serious potential health consequences, the start of detrimental drinking patterns, negative influences on families, and cost to society are concerns expressed by professionals in multiple healthcare fields (Audrain-McGovern et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2010).

A rise in adolescent drinking increases the importance of understanding how to reduce the prevalence of alcohol abuse (Yang et al., 2010). Parenting style has been identified as a dominant factor in deciding the overall outlook of a child's behavior (Baumrind, 1991). In particular, with an authoritative style, parents can mediate alcohol use frequency in their teen children (Yang et al., 2012). Even in late adolescence, parental involvement in accordance with alcohol use education and support yielded young adults making better peer friendships in college, which led to preventative measures of excess alcohol intake (Abar & Turrisi, 2008). Similarly, successful parental monitoring allowed for their college-aged children to pick friends who did not abuse alcohol. In these cases, parents served as good mentors in developing healthy coping strategies for becoming productive members of society (Abar & Turrisi, 2008).

Parenting styles have influenced the degree and frequency of alcohol use in college age students (Larimer & Conce, 2007; Yang et al., 2010). In particular, there has been a clear association between parental monitoring and reduced drinking among teens (Beck et al., 2004). For example, Goncy and van Dulman (2010) noted that, "Empirical findings demonstrate that several parental factors are related to alcohol use, alcohol related problems and co-occurring risky behaviors" (p. 94). Parental support and higher involvements levels have been shown to reduce adolescent problem behavior including alcohol use (Goncy & van Dulman, 2010). It is also noteworthy that these findings held true across ethnicities and gender, and higher levels of parental support and involvement were consistently associated with less alcohol use by adolescents (Goncy & van Dulman, 2010).

One of the parenting styles that has positively influenced reduced alcohol use among adolescent college adults is the authoritative style (Patock-Peckham & Morgan-Lopez, 2006). Authoritative parents are described as highly demanding but responsive, and this style of parenting has demonstrated noteworthy success in safeguarding children from alcohol use frequency (Baumrind, 1991, 2005).Though children whose parents are authoritative were least unstable and most adept, those with parents having a fairly imbalanced demanding-responsive ratio (i.e., non-authoritarian-directive and democratic), were nearly equally well adjusted and adept (Baumrind, 1991, 2005). As compared to youth from democratic and authoritative backgrounds, those hailing from directive families (non-authoritarian and authoritarian) were slightly less academically adept and individuated; however, they had good social skills and those whose parents were non-authoritarian-directive were more proficient and less troubled than those whose parents were authoritarian-directive (Baumrind, 1991, 2005).

Children's levels of competency, thus, can be predicted by parenting styles, and parenting styles can temper impacts of (perceived) parenting practices excluding abuse. Hence, variables that represent demandingness factor prove more beneficial when implanted in authoritative structures. Contrary to authoritarian structures, the authoritative structure combines firm supervision and control on behavior with support of child self-sufficiency and affection. Likewise, high responsiveness levels positively impact children when combined with high levels of demandingness in authoritative systems, but not on combining with low levels of demandingness in tolerant settings (Baumrind, 1991, 2005). Earlier outcomes, such…