National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Parental Disapproval of Youths' Substance Use Report

August 30, 2002

Parental Disapproval of Youths' Substance Use

In Brief

  • In 2000, most youths aged 12 to 17 thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use

  • Youths who were younger, female, or Asian were more likely to think that their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use compared with youths who were older, male, or from other racial/ethnic groups

  • Substance use was lower among youths who believed their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use compared with those who felt their parents somewhat disapproved or those who thought their parents would neither approve nor disapprove
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Research suggests that rates of substance use among youths are lower among those whose parents disapprove of substance use than among those whose parents do not disapprove.1 The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) asks youths aged 12 to 17 to report how they thought their parents would feel about their trying marijuana/hashish once or twice, having one or two drinks of an alcoholic beverage nearly every day, or smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day.2 The survey also asked about use of marijuana/hashish, alcohol, and cigarettes during the month before the survey.


How Youths Think Their Parents Feel About Substance Use
Of the estimated 23 million youths in the United States aged 12 to 17 in 2000, the majority thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use. Almost 90 percent thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana/hashish once or twice (Figure 1). Almost 88 percent thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their having one or two drinks of an alcoholic beverage nearly every day, and 88 percent thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day.

Figure 1. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Their Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use: 2000

Figure 2. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use, by Age: 2000

Figure 1. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Their Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use: 2000 Figure 2. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use, by Age: 2000
Younger youths were more likely than older youths to think that their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use (Figure 2). Females were more likely than males to think that their parents would strongly disapprove (Figure 3). Asians were more likely than those from other racial/ethnic groups to think that their parents would strongly disapprove (Figure 4). Youths living in large metropolitan counties were more likely than their peers in small and non-metropolitan counties to think that their parents would disapprove of their alcohol or cigarette use (alcohol: 89 percent large metropolitan vs. 88 percent small metropolitan, 86 percent non-metropolitan; cigarettes: 89 percent large metropolitan vs. 87 percent small metropolitan, 86 percent non-metropolitan); however, the percentages of youths who thought their parents would disapprove of their trying marijuana/hashish once or twice were similar across county types.

Perceptions of Parental Disapproval Related to Adolescent Substance Use
The rate of past month use of marijuana/hashish, alcohol, or cigarettes was lower among youths who believed that their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use compared with rates among those who thought their parents would somewhat disapprove or would neither approve nor disapprove (Table 1). For example, 5 percent of youths who believed that their parents would strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana/hashish once or twice used marijuana/hashish during the past month. In contrast, 27 percent of those who felt their parents would somewhat disapprove or would neither approve nor disapprove were past month marijuana users. Likewise, rates of past month cigarette smoking were lower among youths who thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day (9 percent) compared with youths who thought their parents would somewhat disapprove or would neither approve nor disapprove (46 percent). Furthermore, youths who thought their parents would strongly disapprove of their having one or two drinks of an alcoholic beverage nearly every day were less likely to have used alcohol during the past month (13 percent) than youths who thought their parents would somewhat disapprove or would neither approve nor disapprove (40 percent).

Figure 3. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Their Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use, by Gender: 2000

Figure 4. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Their Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use, by Race/Ethnicity: 2000

Figure 3. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Their Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use, by Gender: 2000 Figure 4. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting That They Thought Their Parents Would Strongly Disapprove of Their Substance Use, by Race/Ethnicity: 2000

Table 1. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting Past Month Substance Use, by How They Thought Their Parents Would Feel About Their Substance Use: 2000

Table 1. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting Past Month Substance Use, by How They Thought Their Parents Would Feel About Their Substance Use: 2000
End Notes

  1. Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, R.F., & Miller, J.Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64-105.

  2. The three response categories were (1) neither approve nor disapprove, (2) somewhat disapprove, or (3) strongly disapprove.

Table and Figure Notes

Note (table and all figures): Respondents with missing data were excluded.

Source (table and all figures): SAMHSA 2000 NHSDA.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) is an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The 2000 data are based on information obtained from nearly 72,000 persons aged 12 or older, including more than 25,000 youths aged 12 to 17. The survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population through face-to-face interviews at their place of residence.

The NHSDA Report is prepared by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS), SAMHSA, and by RTI in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Information and data for this issue are based on the following publication and statistics:

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2001). Summary of findings from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA Series: H-13, DHHS Publication No. SMA 01-3549). Rockville, MD: Author.

Also available on-line: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh.htm.

Additional tables: 3.28B, 3.29B, and 3.30B from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/hsda/2kdetailedtabs/Vol_1_Part_3/V1P3.htm.

Additional tables available upon request.
The NHSDA Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this fact sheet may be downloaded from Other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are also available on-line on the OAS home page: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov

This page was last updated on December 31, 2008.