LDAT Program Modules

1. Delay drinking alcohol

What is it?

Parents should delay their child’s first alcoholic drink for as long as possible by not supplying them with alcohol of any amount, even sips.

Why is it important?

There is a common misconception in the community that supplying young people with alcohol at home reduces the likelihood of harm and excessive drinking.^50-52

^‍Parents mistakenly think that providing young people with alcohol at home helps to introduce alcohol in a ‘safe’ environment and promotes moderate drinking; parents cite the existence of similar drinking practices in European/Mediterranean countries as justification.

What does the research say?

Parents are the most likely group to give alcohol to 12-17-year-olds in Australia.³⁹

Supplying alcohol to young people can increase the likelihood of a young person drinking earlier, drinking more frequently and drinking larger quantities,⁸ alcohol dependence later in life and other youth problems.¹²

These risks increase with an earlier age of supply.⁵³

Early drinking, even sips or tastes, is connected to earlier and more harmful patterns of alcohol consumption.^4,43

There is no evidence to support the view that parental supply of alcohol is protective for any drinking-related outcomes.⁵⁴

A recently published study in Australia, using data collected from the Australian Parental Supply of Alcohol Longitudinal Study (2010 – 2016), found that providing alcohol to children is associated with alcohol-related harms and that there is no evidence to support the notion that parental supply protects against adverse drinking outcomes.

Choosing not to drink or delaying drinking has been associated with positive physical and mental health outcomes (both immediate and long-term). A landmark study by Grant et al (2001) found that for each year the onset of drinking was delayed, the odds of developing an alcohol use disorder later in life were reduced by 9%.⁴²

What can parents do?

Delay your child’s first alcoholic drink for as long as possible. Your decision not to allow your young person to drink is backed by alcohol guidelines and laws.

Avoid providing young people under 18 with alcohol of any amount, even sips.

Where can I find more information?

2. Role model low-risk drinking

What is it?

Role modelling low-risk drinking refers to parents providing an example of low-risk drinking with their own behaviour around their children.

Why is it important?

Parents are important role models for their children. It’s not just what parents say that makes a big difference, it is also what they – and others - do that influences a young person’s attitudes and behaviours. Parents play a significant and powerful role in shaping their child’s beliefs and attitudes about alcohol, through their role-modelling of alcohol-related behaviours.^4,5

Watching adults drink frequently and enjoy alcohol is linked to the development of a young person’s positive expectations of their own use of alcohol.⁵

But this knowledge can cut both ways – observing adults have fun without alcohol, demonstrate they can refuse a drink, and not have alcohol as the central focus of all social gatherings can positively shape a young person’s understanding of the role alcohol may, or may not, play in their life.

What does the research say?

Parents’ attitudes and behaviours have a huge impact on a young person’s drinking behaviour.^6-1

Role modelling low-risk drinking can help delay a young person’s alcohol use and also influence their approach to later alcohol consumption.⁶ When young people observe adults drinking, they develop perceptions about expected adult drinking behaviours,¹⁰ and are more likely to start drinking themselves.^6,9

What can parents do?

If you choose to drink, leading by example and role modelling low-risk drinking can have a powerful influence on your child’s drinking behaviour.⁶

Avoid saying you ‘need’ or ‘deserve’ a drink.

Follow the Australian alcohol guidelines – no more than four standard drinks a day, and a total of no more than 10 standard drinks in a week to reduce long-term harm and alcohol-related injury. The same guidelines recommend people aged under 18 years should not drink alcohol at all.³⁰

Show you don’t always need a drink to have fun or wind down.
Build some alcohol-free days into your week.
Find some healthy ways to manage stress like exercising, listening to music, streaming a show, or using other coping strategies like breathing techniques.
Keep track of how many standard drinks you’ve had, even when you’re not driving.

Demonstrate that you can refuse a drink. You don’t need to tell your young person about your past experiences with alcohol and/or drugs (good or bad). However, if you decide to share your past, consider how much detail you want to give; whether your story will be beneficial; and, how you will respond to any questions.

Where can I find more information?

3. Build and maintain a healthy relationship with your child

What is it?

A healthy parent-child relationship is characterised by a strong, mutual and sustained emotional bond between parent and child.

Why is it important?

Strong and healthy family relationships are the foundation of a healthy social and emotional life and help to protect young people against AOD use and harms. Children are less likely to drink alcohol if parents are involved in their life in a positive way.

What can parents do?

Get involved in your child’s life.
Spend time with your child.
Help your child feel good about themselves.
Establish and maintain good communication with your child.
Get dads engaged and involved.
See below for more strategies to build and maintain a healthy child-parent relationship.

What does the research say?

A positive parent-child relationship has been shown to reduce adolescent AOD use.^12,55

A 2017 systematic review found that high levels of parent-child connectedness and good quality communication, both general and substance use specific, are protective against AOD use.⁵⁶

Iceland’s Planet Youth model demonstrated that AOD use may be reduced by increasing the amount of time young people spend with their parents.²³

Importantly, fathers have a significant impact on the academic and social and emotional wellbeing of children, having lasting influences into their adult life.⁵⁷Relationships change in the teenage years, but dads still have a big role to play.

How to build and maintain a healthy child-parent relationship¹

There are a number of things parents can do to establish and maintain a good relationship with their child, such as:

support them in pursuing their interests and in dealing with problems
show an interest and be involved in their life
help them feel good about themselves
work to create open communication between yourself and your child
cultivate their trust by being consistent in following through on promises and enforcing rules
regularly demonstrate that you care about them
regularly tell them that you love them.

Parents can use the following strategies to get involved in their child’s life:

regularly spend one-on-one time giving them your undivided attention
try establishing a regular weekly routine for doing something special with your child
find ways for your child to be involved in family life, such as doing chores or caring for younger brothers or sisters
engage in activities together as a family on a regular basis
try to include your child’s friends in family activities.

Where can I find more information?‍

Establish family rules

What is it?

Family rules refer to having clear and consistent rules and boundaries, including general family rules and those specific to alcohol.

Why is it important?

Having clear family rules and expectations are associated with better health and behavioural outcomes for young people, including protection from AOD use and harms. Clear family rules and boundaries around alcohol use reduces the likelihood that young people will drink alcohol and engage in risky drinking.

What does the research say?

Authoritative parenting styles, characterised by warmth and strictness, can have a protective effect on adolescent alcohol use. Research into parenting styles showed that authoritative style parenting, where parents are responsive and positive (as opposed to negative), was associated with better health and behavioural outcomes.⁵⁸

This type of parenting represents rational aspects of parenting (e.g. setting curfews and knowing where children are) and emotional aspects (e.g. connectedness, trust and emotional warmth, talking about problems openly). Rules and boundaries provided in an environment where the children feel loved and cared for are much more likely to be accepted by children.

Young people are less likely to use alcohol and other drugs when they know their parents do not approve.²³Conveying parental disapproval of underage drinking can reduce the likelihood of young people engaging in risky drinking practices.⁸ However, unless parents enforce the rules, children are likely to have higher levels of use.⁵⁶Family rules around alcohol use and the consistent enforcement of rules can decrease the likelihood of a young person engaging in risky drinking.^12,56,59

Parental disapproval of their children drinking, and young people believing that underage drinking is considered unacceptable, can reduce the likelihood that adolescents will drink.^7,43

What can parents do?

Explain why you don’t want your children under 18-years of age drinking
Talk to your kids about boundaries, expectations, and consequences.
Establish rules for your children before they are exposed to situations involving alcohol.
Establish rules regarding alcohol for when your child is at home unsupervised.
Tell your young person that any alcohol stored in the family home is strictly off-limits to them and their friends.
Make sure your children know that the rules about alcohol are a protective measure and not just a restriction on their freedom.
Establish realistic consequences for when family rules are broken.⁶⁰

Where can I find more information?

4. Monitor your child

What is it?

Parental monitoring refers to parents being aware of, and staying informed about, their child’s schedule, activities, physical whereabouts and friends.

Why is it important?

Parental monitoring of their children, particularly when they are unsupervised, reduces a young people’s risky behaviours and the likelihood that they will drink alcohol.

What does the research say?

Parental monitoring has been shown to reduce young people’s risky behaviours⁵⁵and AOD use.¹² Increased parental monitoring may also help to delay the age that a young person starts consuming alcohol and protect against later risky drinking.^7,8

Many studies have shown that when a parent is engaged with their child and maintains awareness of where the child is, rates of AOD use, antisocial behaviour and negative peer influences are reduced.⁶¹

Iceland’s Planet Youth model demonstrated that AOD use may be reduced by increasing supervision during the evenings.²³Unsupervised time, especially at night, adds to risk because young people may spend more time with peers who drink alcohol, and young people are more likely to drink if their friends do.⁶²

Planet Youth also found that increasing parental monitoring and parental social involvement (knowing their children’s friends and their parents) appear connected to reductions in AOD use by young people over 12 years of age.^23,63

What can parents do?

Stay informed about your child’s schedule, activities, physical whereabouts and friends.
Get to know child’s friends and their parents.
Help your children identify, choose, and become a good friend.
Build a support network with other parents. This helps to create a community culture that does not support young people drinking, for example: share no-alcohol and other drug rules with other parents; plan fun, no-alcohol and other drug activities for children; discuss ways to monitor kids to ensure they stay in an alcohol-free social environment.
Below provides some additional strategies for monitoring teenagers.

Where can I find more information?

Monitoring teenagers¹

Before teenagers go out, parents should:

ask them where they will be, what they will be doing, and who they will be with
set a curfew and know what time to expect them home
make arrangements with them about how they will get home safely
ask them to contact you if their plans change
make sure they have a way to contact you
if giving them money, discuss how much they will need and how it will be spent.

Tell your teenager that you are monitoring their activities not because you are nosey, but because you care about their safety. Most children appreciate their parents monitoring their activities and see it as proof of their parents’ concern for their wellbeing.

Be aware though that being overly strict or harsh may cause them to rebel by finding ways to access alcohol. Try to balance monitoring with your teenager’s need for privacy and adjust your monitoring as your child matures to encourage their growing independence.

5. Encourage participation in supervised activities

What is it?

Participation of children and teenagers in structured activities during their recreation time, such as sport, music, drama, scouts, or youth clubs.

Why is it important?

Children can have more protection from AOD harms when they participate in supervised activities. When these activities are shared with parents, they can play an important role in creating a positive family life.

What does the research say?

Increasing young people’s participation in quality, supervised activities during their recreation time can reduce AOD use.²³For example, a young person’s involvement in a sporting club may mean that they experience enhanced feelings of social acceptance and lower feelings of social isolation. This can lead to increased self-esteem and decreased feelings of depression and anxiety – feelings that may be linked to alcohol and drug use.⁶⁴

Playing sport might also increase feelings of self-control, self-regulation and mastery, which can impact a young person’s decision-making abilities.⁶⁵The promotion of alternative and diversionary extracurricular activities (e.g. participation in sports) that offer quality supervision can give young people more protection from AOD harms.^22-24

What can parents do?

Get young people involved in quality, supervised activities such as sport, music or drama.
Share activities with your child by getting involved and participating together.

Where can I find more information?

Good Sports

6. Talk about alcohol and other drugs

What is it?

Parents having conversations with young people about alcohol and other drugs.

Why is it important?

Open conversations about alcohol and other drugs is an important part of preparing a young person for situations where they may be around alcohol and other drugs.

What does the research say?

Conversations with young people about alcohol and other drugs should be constructive, respectful, two-sided, and involve explanations about the health implications of AOD use.⁵⁶

Conversations should aim to address a range of personal and social skills (e.g. decision-making and refusal skills),rather than focusing on AOD use behaviours alone.¹⁴ An observational study reported that parents who discussed AOD use scenarios, rather than focusing on rules against use and criticism, may make young people feel more comfortable and be linked to lower substance use.^66,67

What can parents do?

Have open conversations about alcohol and other drugs with your young person.

Note: You can start this conversation from as early as eight years old, to give them the right information and attitudes before they go to high school. In fact, broaching this topic early means you can establish an understanding that there are no silly questions and no off-limit topics.

Where can I find more information?

7. Support school connectedness and attendance

What is it?

Helping young people feel connected to their school and encouraging them to attend school.

Why is it important?

A child’s school connectedness and attendance, especially during primary school, gives children opportunities to develop the basic building blocks for learning and educational attainment, as well as social and emotional skills, all of which help to protect against AOD use and harms.

What does the research say?

Research has consistently shown that young people who feel connected to their school are less likely to engage in a range of risky behaviours, including AOD use. Students who feel connected to their school are also more likely to do better academically, have better school attendance and stay in school longer.^68,69

Feeling a sense of belonging and connection to school can help to protect young people from experiencing harms from alcohol and other drugs.^69,70 A good school culture can also have other positive benefits, such as reducing bullying and increasing physical activity.⁷¹

Regular school attendance is critical to successful student outcomes and has implications for further education and future employment opportunities,⁷² as outlined below.

School attendance patterns have been found to be established early in school life, and disparities in attendance tend to be carried into, and become greater in, secondary school.⁷³

School attendance⁷⁴

Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind, both socially and developmentally. Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives. It is important that children develop habits of regular attendance at an early age.

School participation is important as it maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks. School helps people to develop important skills, knowledge and values which set them up for further learning and participation in their community. Conversely, limited school participation is associated with a greater chance of dropping out of school, disruptive and delinquent behaviour and may lead to a cycle of rebellion against authority.

These outcomes have later implications for employment, a range of health risk behaviours (drug and alcohol abuse),homelessness, poverty, welfare dependence, and involvement in the justice system.

What can parents do?

Speak with your child about the importance of attending school every day, and establish positive attendance habits early.
Actively monitor your child’s school attendance.
Ask about, and help with, homework.
Help in the classroom if the school has a parent volunteer program.
Get involved in the school community, e.g. volunteer on a committee, attend events.
Be in touch with the teacher and school staff.
Set a regular evening and morning routine.
If possible, make appointments out of school hours.
Avoid taking your child away for holidays during the school term.
If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to them to find out why.^75,76

Where can I find more information?

‍Attendance at primary school

8. Build media literacy

What is it?

Media literacy is the ability to identify different types of media and understand the messages they are sending.

Why is it important?

Each year the alcohol industry spends more than $100 million on alcohol advertising. Learning media literacy from an early age can assist young people in identifying some of the advertising practices used by alcohol companies, and how they may be targeting them.

What can parents do?

Talk with your young person about alcohol advertising and support them to identify some of the advertising practices used by alcohol companies, and how they may be targeting them.

Check how media literacy is taught at your young person’s school.
Reduce exposure of paid alcohol advertisements.
Report inappropriate content and/or make an official complaint.

What does the research say?

Young people often see many different forms of alcohol advertising (on TV, radio, billboards, etc.) which can contribute to them taking up drinking, starting drinking at a much younger age, and engaging in risky drinking behaviours.^77-80Young people can be particularly influenced by alcohol advertising – especially as they don’t tend to recognise the intentions of advertisers until they are around the age of 16.⁸¹Adolescents also often have stronger feelings of self-consciousness and concerns around identity,⁸² which alcohol advertising can attempt to tap in to. For example, alcohol ads often show drinking alcohol as something that will enhance mood or well-being, as well as contribute to positive emotional experiences, friendships, and achievement – all ideas which young people find appealing.^80,81,83,84