Study Lauds Drug Talk Between Parents, Kids

Parents are being more effective when they talk to their children about the risks of drug use, according to a new report from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA).

The Associated Press reported Feb. 26 that the 2008 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study found that 37 percent of teens surveyed said they had “learned a lot” from discussions with their parents about drugs, up from 32 percent in 2007 and the first time the measure has noticeably improved since the study began 20 years ago.

“Parents are talking, and what you see in the study, particularly among the girls, is the willingness of kids to listen. They’re more open to talking about the drug issue than kids in the past,” said PDFA President and CEO Steve Pasierb.

Pasierb said that past research indicates that kids who say they benefited from drug discussions with their parents are 50-percent less likely to use drugs.

The survey also found that 33 percent of teens surveyed reported using marijuana, down from 37 percent in 2005, with past-month marijuana use down 30 percent since 1998.

Parents were most likely to discuss alcohol and marijuana use with their kids than other drugs — more than three-quarters did so — while only one in four teens surveyed said their parents had talked to them about prescription-drug misuse. “Parents don’t think it’s a problem and they think it’s safer than illicit street drugs,” said Pasierb.

The complete PDFA attitudinal survey can be downloaded free in PDF format.