Partnership Releases 20th Annual Survey of Parental Attitudes Towar...( Study Shows Teens Need Help When Par...),Health

Study Shows Teens Need Help When Parents Feel Least Prepared to Provide It

~ Parent or a Pal? Parents Are Conflicted ~

NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The early teen years are not only a turbulent time for kids themselves, but also usher in a period of increased insecurity and need among parents when it comes to preventing teen drug and alcohol use, according to the 20th annual national study of parents released today by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America(R). The study shows that as kids transition into teendom, their parents' need for useful information and help talking about drugs and alcohol peaks. At the very same time, parents' confidence in their ability to influence their teens' decisions about drugs and alcohol begins to wane.

According to data from the 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS), half of all parents (51 percent), with kids in 6th-8th grade, feel they lack the tools and information to prevent drug and alcohol use, where just 35 percent of parents of elementary school children (4th-5th grades) feel they need more help. Parents of teens and 'tweens in middle school are the most likely group of parents -- 46 percent -- to sense their kids' reluctance to talk to them about drugs and alcohol, and overall, four out of ten parents (37 percent) of teens and 'tweens feel they have little influence over their middle schooler's decision to try drugs. Yet, Partnership research shows that kids who learn a lot about the risks of drugs at home are up to 50 percent less likely to use.

Now in its 20th year, the 2007 PATS study surveyed 1,045 parents or caregivers of teens and tweens (pre-teens) ages 10-19 (margin of error: +/-3 percent). Top-line findings from this nationally projectable tracking study show:
-- The number of parents who report they need more tools and information

to help their kids deal with drugs and alcohol jumps 46 percent between

4th-5th grade and 6th-8th
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