Relationship with parents influences addictive behavior

The student study "Health Behavior in School-aged Children." (HBSC) was conducted in over 40 countries in 2014 under the auspices of the WHO. In addition to their use of psychoactive substances, young people were also asked about their relationship with their parents.

Interest of parents and trusting climate are central

Around four-fifths of 15-year-olds believe that their parents are well informed about how and with whom they spend their free time. Among those whose parents are little or not informed, the use of tobacco, alcohol or cannabis is more widespread than among young people whose parents are well informed. For example, 8% of adolescents of well-informed parents were really drunk at least once in the last month; among adolescents of poorly or uninformed parents, the rate is almost three times higher. When it comes to cannabis use at least once in the last month, the figures also speak for themselves, with 10% in the first group versus 23% in the second.

If parents know about the young people's leisure time behavior, this can be the result of a trusting relationship and an open culture of discussion. In this way, young people's concerns can be discussed and strategies for dealing with problems can be developed together. This in turn can prevent the young people from distracting themselves from problems with psychoactive substances.

Four-fifths of 15-year-olds said they found it easy to talk to their parents about their worries. These young people then also reported less substance use: One in ten of these teens had been drunk at least once in the past month. By comparison: Among those who find it hard to talk to parents, the proportion is 14%. For cannabis use, the figures are 12 versus 16%.

The results indicate that a good and trusting relationship with parents is an important protective factor in substance use. Conversely, however, it may also be the case that those adolescents who use psychoactive substances hide this from their parents or have relationship problems with their parents because of their substance use.

Advice for parents

The relationship between adolescents and their parents undergoes profound changes during adolescence. In the pursuit of autonomy, adolescents are increasingly oriented toward their peers. However, parents can retain an important role in addiction prevention by

• they give the young people more freedom, but also set age-appropriate, comprehensible and consistently enforced rules, including for going out and consuming addictive substances. In this way, they help the adolescents to become independent.
• they take sufficient time for joint conversations in which the young people can open up to them.
• they also sometimes insist when they are worried about the child's substance use and he or she is reluctant to talk to them about it.
• Seek counseling when they are stuck.

More in-depth advice can be found at the end of the new factsheets and in the Parents section the website of Addiction Switzerland. Parents can obtain advice from Addiction Switzerland (0800 104 104 as well as by mail at praevention@suchtschweiz.ch ) and www.safezone.ch, as well as with cantonal offices.

The Swiss HBSC study was funded by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the majority of the cantons.