While fear-based messaging around alcohol aimed towards teens is common practice, new research suggests a key to curbing adolescents' risky drinking behaviour is through authentic and open communication that acknowledges some of the positive aspects while warning of the negative consequences of drinking.
University of Adelaide's Dr David Jaud from the Adelaide Business School explains that communication should be genuine and balanced to provide effective messaging to reduce excessive drinking behaviour in adolescents.
"Positive communication messages on drinking can include acknowledging the teen's need for socialising, belongingness, and pleasurable experiences, while clearly stating the negative consequences, such as, the standard health and safety risks, along with emphasising social risk like embarrassment," says Dr Jaud, who conducted the study as part of an international team including Dr Alexandra Hess and Dr Sarah Dodds from Massey University in New Zealand, as well as Dr Claire Garnier and Professor Olivier Gergaud from Kedge Business School in France.
"We found that alcohol-related messaging should highlight both negative and positive consequences of drinking alcohol, this is what teens find more authentic.
"We also found that authentic communication needs to align with authentic behaviour; for example, parents being honest about their past and playing a positive role model, such as drinking responsibly themselves, and teenagers feeling that they can have teen experiences while having clear boundaries. This communication needs to occur in an open and trusting environment, in which every family member feels comfortable to talk about alcohol consumption.
"Although teen drinking is on the decline, risky drinking is still a major health issue that needs addressing."
Alcohol overconsumption is a major societal issue in many countries, particularly for teenagers aged 15 to 19. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that people who begin drinking before the age of 15 are at a higher risk for developing Alcohol Use Disorder later in life. World Health Organisation (WHO) reports one third of teens have drunk excessively.
Dr Jaud says adolescent behaviour is complex, particularly when it comes to alcohol consumption, and navigating the best way to communicate safe drinking is equally challenging.
"The question is how can parents and public policymakers educate teens and young adults about alcohol? How can parents and caregivers communicate effectively to prevent their teenagers from drinking excessively?" Dr Jaud says.
"Our research aims to provide parents and public policymakers with guidelines to help discourage teenagers and young adults from drinking excessively."
The mixed method-based research, published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, involved interviewing families in New Zealand and France, where parents were social drinkers and their teens had some exposure to alcohol. The team also ran an online experiment on different types of messaging through a social marketing advertising campaign for adolescents aged 18 to 19.
Dr Jaud explains that prior research on communication on teen drinking has mainly focused on communicating the negative aspects of drinking alcohol, and this approach has often been promoted in public discourse.
"In the past, most communication used warning and fear-based messages around alcohol, particularly emphasising the negative consequences of excessive alcohol consumption. This includes centring on car accidents, health issues, sexual assaults, and so on," Dr Jaud says.
"We found in our experiment that both negative and positive views of drinking alcohol in a public advert context would encourage young adults 18 to 19 years to consume alcohol in a more responsible way, rather than either negative-only or positive-only communication. This research is the first to look at the authenticity of communication in an alcohol context, where teens, parents and educators talk openly and honestly about alcohol and create an environment in which such communication and behaviour are experienced."
Dr Jaud says implementing this framework based on authentic communication and engagement could be tested in different risky behaviour contexts such as vaping, social media, or drug use.
