Strict parenting increases the risk of drug abuse in teens, a latest research reveals.
For the study, the researchers looked at the risk of children using alcohol, tobacco and cannabis in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Researchers stated that the aim of the study was to clarify the type of parent-child relationship that best protects children from taking drugs, using two variables: parental control and affection.
"Our results support the idea that extremes are not effective: neither authoritarianism nor absence of control and affection. A good relationship with children works well. In this respect, it can go hand in hand with direct control (known as 'authoritative' or democratic style) or not (style wrongly called 'indulgent')," lead researcher Amador Calafat said in a press release.
For the study, a total of 7,718 adolescents (3,774 males and 3,944 females), aged between 11 and 19 years, were interviewed.
The study results showed that the indulgent and authoritative parenting style increases the chance of personal disorders and teens taking up drugs.
"For self-esteem and school performance, it is still better when parents operate with the indulgent style," Calafat added. "This study allows a focus and common discussion in Europe in drug use prevention programs."
"From a global personal health perspective, the 'authoritative' and 'indulgent' parental styles equally protect against the use of drugs," Calafat concluded.
The study 'Which parenting style is more protective against adolescent substance use? Evidence within the European context' was published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
