parental influence

One reason cited for heavy drinking during college is the lack of parental oversight as emerging adults leave home (Merrill & Carey, 2016). College is often the first time that individuals have lived away from their parents and the physical and social environments of college set the stage for risky drinking (Wilkinson & Ivsins, 2017). However, most college students communicate with their parents regularly and such communication is related to lower alcohol consumption (Small et al., 2011). Students who live near home may also continue to interact with parents in person even if they no longer live at home. Thus, the current study extends this literature by examining face-to-face parental contact as a factor in college students’ alcohol consumption.