New website to prevent adolescent alcohol misuse
01-January-2012
Many parents struggle to deal with the complexities of alcohol misuse in adolescent children.
Parents struggling to cope with adolescent alcohol consumption will now be able to test their skills and seek help online, thanks to a parenting strategies website.
Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre and Orygen Youth Health have launched the site, which includes a range of appropriate parenting strategies endorsed by experts in the field.
"Under-age drinking is widely viewed as an appropriate rite-of-passage within the community," says Professor Dan Lubman, Director of Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre.
With the festive season upon us, parents are facing increased pressure to allow their underage children to drink during the holiday period.
Despite 90 percent of adolescents consuming alcohol by the age of 14, there is a lack of widely available evidence-based guidelines for parents in responding to requests for alcohol from their children.
The website will offer a web-based program designed to help parents assess their current approaches, with parents receiving personalised feedback on how to confidently manage their child’s alcohol use.
This is an international first, in terms of giving families practical evidence-based strategies for dealing with the common dilemma of when to allow their children to drink alcohol, says Professor Lubman.
Parents who implement the strategies will also reduce the risk that their child will develop alcohol-related problems as a young adult.
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