Governing Adolescent Drinking

This article examines the relationship between the drinking habits of Danish adolescents and the upbringing ideals and alcohol rules of their parents. It is based on three different data sets: a survey of 2,000 Danish young people born in 1989, a survey with the parents of these young people, and two waves of focus group interviews (in all 28) with adolescents aged 14 to 16. The study demonstrates that there is a sharp contrast between the views of the adolescents and the findings from the two surveys. Although the young people themselves are of the opinion that parental control has no positive effect and that drinking habits within reasonable limits can best be developed through trial and error, the survey data reveal a strong relationship between parents' attitudes and rules and their children's binge drinking. The more lenient the parents' attitudes and rules are, the more the children tend to binge drink.