An exploration of mother's beliefs and parenting behaviours surrounding adolescent substance use and impaired driving

There is pressing need to manage adolescent substance use to prevent impaired driving. Adolescent impaired driving is more common than imagined and is damaging to the health of Canadians and the economy. Parenting is argued to be the most promising prevention strategy available. In this qualitative study, I explored four mother's beliefs and self-reported parenting behaviours surrounding adolescent substance use and impaired driving. The data revealed that mother's beliefs about the nature of adolescence as a developmental period contextualize their responses to their adolescent's substance use. Specifically, mother's beliefs regarding adolescence as a period of exploration, questionable decision-making, and the need for autonomy appeared to relate to the parenting behaviours of communication, monitoring, and the use of consequences, respectively. Case evidence, in the context of the literature, is presented to illustrate how these parent behaviours may shape their children's experiences of substance use and the likelihood of impaired driving.