Parenting Manuals on Underage Drinking: Differences between Alcohol Industry and Non-Industry Publications

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

This study compares alcohol industry and non-industry “talk to your child about drinking” parenting manuals to evaluate content, emphasis, and the presence of potentially sensitive public health perspectives. Manuals from major alcohol companies are contrasted with federal government and private health agency materials using coded page-by-page reviewer analyses and normalized mention rates. Industry manuals give fewer reasons teens should not drink and minimize public health dimensions, omitting many risks while selectively communicating selected concerns.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Underage drinking as a public health problem

Parent-focused intervention rationale

Critiques of industry-produced educational materials

Methods and Theoretical Framework

Content comparison approach

Health Belief Model overview

Discussion and Implications

Major omissions and minimized public health dimensions

Guidance for health education practice

Research Article Parenting Manuals on Underage Drinking: Differences between Alcohol Industry and Non-Industry Publications Gordon B. Lindsay, Ray M. Merrill, Adam Owens, and Nathan A. Barleen ABSTRACT Background: There is some debate over the efﬁcacy of alcohol industry parenting manuals. Purpose: This study compares the content and focus of alcohol industry and non-industry “talk to your child about drinking” parenting manuals. Methods: Parenting manuals from Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing Company were compared to federal government and private health agency manuals (e.g., the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and a joint project by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council). Independent reviewers read each page from the manuals and coded how frequently alcohol-related problems and potentially sensitive public health perspectives were mentioned. Tabulations were converted in rates of mentions per 1000 words. Results: Although the industry parenting manuals analyzed in this study advised parents to “get the facts,” they provided substantially fewer reasons why teens should not drink and showed signiﬁcantly lower rates of mention for most problems compared to non-industry manuals. They also avoided potentially sensitive public health perspectives on underage drinking, whereas the non-industry manuals devoted considerable attention to these issues. Discussion: This preliminary study suggests that when alcohol companies control the alcohol education agenda, major omissions are made, only selected risks are communicated, and the public health dimensions of the problem are minimized. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators should be aware of the vast range of topic coverage and focus available in parenting manuals on underage drinking when considering use of such material. BACKGROUND Underage drinking is associated with an estimated 5,000 deaths among youths in the United States each year.1 Other related public health problems include unintentional injury, violence, homicide, sexual assault, dropping out of school, and family problems.2,3 In addition, underage drinking is directly associated with higher rates of subsequent alcohol abuse and dependence.4 In 2003, the National Academy of Science produced a report for Congress stating that the most important target audience for underage-drinking interventions is parents rather than adolescents.5 Other research projects have reached the same conclusion.6,7 In March 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services published The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, which reinforces the need for greater parent involvement in this issue. Many public health agencies, private health organizations, and alcohol companies have already developed parenting manuals with the purported aim of reducing underage drinking. Yet, it is important that health educators critically evaluate the content of these materials, which vary in their efﬁcacy. Critics of the alcohol industry argue that its attractive and freely distributed educational materials are created more as a public relations ploy to forestall regulation rather than as genuine efforts to reduce underage drinking.8 This criticism maybe rooted in past educational materials produced by tobacco companies. External analysis of such materials and internal tobacco industry documents has indicated that corporate “educational programs for youth” are mostly created as public relations tools used to prevent tobacco regulation and Gordon B. Lindsay is an associate dean in the College of Health and Human Performance at Brigham Young University; E-mail: [gordan_lindsay@byu.edu. Ray Merrill](gordan_lindsay@byu.edu. Ray Merrill) is a professor in the Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University, 229-A Richards Bldg., Provo, UT 84602; E-mail: ray_[merrill@byu.edu. Adam Owens](merrill@byu.edu. Adam Owens) and Nathan Barleen were both r

FAQs

What is the study’s main purpose?

To compare the content and focus of alcohol industry parenting manuals with non-industry “talk to your child about drinking” manuals.

How were the parenting manuals evaluated?

Independent reviewers read each page and coded how frequently alcohol-related problems and sensitive public health perspectives were mentioned, then converted tabulations into rates per 1000 words.

What were the key findings about industry versus non-industry manuals?

Industry manuals advised parents to “get the facts” but provided fewer reasons not to drink and showed lower mention rates for most problems, while avoiding potentially sensitive public health perspectives that non-industry manuals covered extensively.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda