Parenting styles and driving under the influence of cannabis among US adolescents

Abstract

Objective:

Access to cannabis and synthetic THC alternatives is increasingly widespread. Moreover, there is no federal minimum age for purchase, and inconsistencies between state laws. Some parenting behaviors are associated with substance use among their adolescent children. However, it is unclear whether certain types of parenting behaviors are associated with driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC). The current study examines this association.

Methods:

We utilized cross-section data from the 2016-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The analytic sample (N=17,878) was comprised of adolescents aged 14 to 17 who had driven a car in the past 12 months. Parental warmth, monitoring, and conflict were recoded and measured ordinally. Weighted frequencies and multivariable analyses were conducted using SAS 9.4.

Results:

Multivariable regression results indicated significant associations between DUIC and all types of parenting behaviors measured: warmth (p<0.01), monitoring (p<0.001), and conflict (p<0.001). Each one unit decrease in parental warmth, monitoring, and conflict, was associated with an increase in the odds of DUIC by 16% (OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.035–1.30), 18.3% (OR=1.18, 95% CI 1.07–1.31), and 50% (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.24 – 1.82), respectively. Past cigarette (OR=4.72, 95% CI 3.89–5.73, p<0.0001), and alcohol use (OR=12.47 95%, CI 9.28–16.76, p<0.0001) are strongly associated with DUIC. Compared to White adolescents, Non-Hispanic Native-Americans had 2.10 times the odds (95% CI 1.19–3.67, p=0.03) and non-Hispanic Asians had 0.61 times the odds (95% CI 0.30–1.25, p=0.04) of adolescent DUIC). Adolescents aged 16 to 17 had greater odds of DUI (OR=2.96, 95% CI 2.12–4.12, p< 0.0001) compared to younger adolescents aged 14 to 15.

Discussion:

Our findings indicate adolescents with parents that engage in high warmth, high monitoring, and low conflict behaviors have decreased odds of DUIC. Past adolescent cigarette and alcohol use are also strong indicators of DUIC.