Nonrandom Partner Selection

selecting a problem-drinking partner is known as “nonrandom partner selection” (Egendorf 20). Further research has found that alcoholics and problem drinkers are likely to marry partners in the same condition which can increase the adverse outcomes of offspring by genetic and environmental risk. The genetic risk is that the offspring can inherit a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism through both the maternal and paternal sides of the family. The environmental risk is increased when two alcoholic parents raise their children in that condition; which can severely compromise the parenting skills and influence negative manners that jeopardize the development of their offspring. Adolescents living in these conditions can easily learn and imitate
their alcoholic parents by basic socialization and learning process as well as by their role modeling because they see their parents as a powerful figure to follow. An example of this can be found in a research made for preschoolers with alcoholic parents to use their knowledge about what they know about alcohol and then recognizing it; the results were accurate and the children with alcoholic parents were able to better recognize alcohol beverages, by using a blinded smell test, than those children that had non-alcoholic parents (Egendorf 22). This exemplifies what happens with children in many households that live with parents that abuse alcohol which causes children to believe even as teenager and through their life span that abusing alcohol is a positive activity. Moreover, parents who abuse alcohol also negatively teaches their adolescent to drink alcohol to cope their stressful life events producing an ineffective strategy for coping, but, maybe their parents don’t directly stress their child to follow their example yet, when their child watch their actions being repeated each day they can conclude that drinking is an effective way to confront distressing circumstances. This coping strategy results in two consequences to the adolescent. At first, that using alcohol as a self-medication can only bring momentary relief from the problems in life, but, it is less likely that this method can generate a “constructive solution that can ameliorate or eliminate the problem or its source” (Egendorf 22). Finally, adolescents’ reliance on alcohol for self-treatment for depressed moods, especially when things are not working out, can contribute to more frequent and serious use of alcohol and related problems. Some of these problems can also contribute to stressful life events, such as poor school performance and even contact with the authorities, which can end on the adolescent relying only in alcohol causing terrible health problems and even death. Given these points, the negative example parents give their adolescents towards alcohol use can cause an impact on the decision their adolescent makes on the future. Studies have confirmed that the earlier adolescents initiate and more frequently drink alcohol, the more likely it is for them to have alcohol-related problems and alcohol dependence when they become adults.
Be that as it may, the question still comes about as asked in the previous paragraph: ¿What else can a parent do to prevent their adolescent from being an alcoholic in their adulthood? A researcher, from the Research Institute on Addictions, answers this question starting by mentioning that there are two key dimensions on parental socialization and child outcome. It consists of parental support, which includes nurturance, acceptance, and love; and parental control, such as discipline, punishment, and monitoring. The researcher further states that the “support construct was defined as parental behaviors towards the child that indicates the child that he or she is accepted and loved” and the “control construct was defined as parental behaviors toward the child that are intended to direct the child’s behavior in a manner acceptable to the parent” (Barnes 176). Barnes also explains that control attempts can range from coercive parental actions, just as hitting and yelling, to inductive control attempts, like a parent explaining to their adolescent why he or she should not have done a certain thing and what they expect from them in the future; it also can consist of monitoring, which includes parental awareness of where their adolescent is at, who are their companions, and
what they are doing (176). Early prevention efforts from the parent are effective before their adolescent onset of drinking, however, research has suggested that intervention from the parents can reduce the probability of the teenager becoming an alcoholic even after drinking has been started. It is clear, that the parent’s interest and effort to help their adolescent starts from home and if developed and implied correctly the benefits will be seen during the decisions of their child’s adulthood.
Research has concluded that parental influence is very important to help their adolescent make the right decisions towards alcohol, but it has also found that parental awareness of adolescent alcohol use is an important key point to prevent teenage alcoholism and a reason why many teenagers drink at an early stage.
Karen Bogenschneider, from the University of Wisconsin, complies with the reasoning since she
states:
One dimension of parents’ management practices-their awareness of adolescent alcohol use- has received surprisingly little empirical attention... From a pragmatic perspective, we propose that parental awareness of alcohol use may be fundamental to effective management because parental response, or lack thereof, may be determined at least in part, by parents’ knowledge of their adolescents’ behavior… [Therefore] parents’ denial of their adolescents’ drug use is one characteristic of families with adolescent drug abusers. (357)
Although Bogenschneider mentioned at the end of the statement that “parents’ denial of adolescent drug use is one characteristic of a family with a [teenager] drug abuser”? (357), it can also be, with more reason, applied with teenagers that are alcohol abusers. Withal, the question comes about ¿how can parents become more aware of what decisions their adolescent is making? Hoque Muhammad, researcher from the department of public health in South Africa, comments about the importance of parental awareness on teenage alcoholism. He states that: “compulsory parenting programs and skills development should be practiced by education, health, cultural, and religious groups” (119) So, before teaching and preventing adolescents to drink alcohol during that period, parents should first be educated about the proper use of alcohol and how they can help their adolescent from abusing alcohol, because if the parents don’t have the right knowledge than it will be like having two people trying to get out of a maze with their eyes closed it will be hard to get to the end, parents will also struggle to guide their child on the correct pathway and there is a possibility that their adolescent will hide their actions. Having this said, the earlier a parent intervenes before and through their child’s adolescence, the easier it will be for their adolescent to manage their emotions and actions. Having all things considered, after analyzing the family influence, the parent-child relationship, the environmental and genetic risk, and the parental awareness; it is clear to say that the role of parent is to guide their adolescent in developing strengths and resilience, and fulfill their fullest life potential because if parents don’t take their role seriously their teenager will manage to find a way to fulfill their emotional necessities with someone else that might not guide them on the correct and healthy way of exploring life. However, this are some aspects that researchers have found as important characteristics that can influence in the decisions an adolescent makes towards alcohol, further research can be made to analyze the point of view from the parent’s side and to unravel the parent-child relationship on the further course of adolescent alcohol use.