A high school or
college student experimenting with alcohol might be one thing, but a
postgraduate of college forming a regular drinking habit could be a start to a
very life altering alcohol addiction. The parenting styles, personal drinking habits, and choice of
friends of each adolescent’s parent can greatly affect this student’s alcohol
use choices later in life. Along with a parent influence in the student’s life,
there is a strong peer influence, which is drastically changed in the years
after graduating from college. It was found that post graduates in the first
year out of college tend to pick a friend group who have the same drinking
habits as them. Such researchers have hypothesized that peers and family of the
subjects will provide much influence on the student closely following their
graduation from college. Racial and ethnic diversity involving the
socialization of alcohol has not been left out of the study. It has been found
that white/Caucasian are affected by socialization and selection while Asian
and Hispanic cultures are tied to more family influences. A large and
ethnically diverse group of students were picked to be studied according to the
levels of drinking they took part in post college. The students who reported to
be heavier drinkers their senior year of college were unsurprisingly heavy
drinkers their first year out of college. Due to students sometimes moving back
into their homes after graduating college, the influence of family on their
drinking habits was found to be greater then they had suspected.
The study has
shown postgraduates with families who were light drinkers also became light
drinkers, and the postgraduates with a family of heavy drinkers increased their
drinking the first year after graduating. The results to this study show that
the influence of how much a newly graduated college student drinks really
depends on the personal drinking habits of his or her family members. Due to
how much this student chooses to drink, they will then choose their peers based
on a common drinking habit. The transition from college into the real world can
either be a constructive or destructive life change based on the modeling role
of their parent’s personal drinking choices.
Abstract
Parental and Peer Influences on Alcohol Use During
the Transition Out of College.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Sep 1 , 2014, No Pagination
Specified. doi: 10.1037/a0037782
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