TARGET ARTICLE (WITH PEER COMMENTARY) Role of Parents’ Socio-Economic Status, Parenting Styles and Alcohol Locus of Control on Alcohol Attitudes Abiodun Musbau Lawal 1 • Erhabor Sunday Idemudia 2 Received: 8 March 2018 / Accepted: 6 August 2019 Ó National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India 2019 Abstract We assessed the roles of gender, parents’ socio- economic status (SES), parenting styles and alcohol-related locus of control (ALoC) on attitudes towards alcohol use among first-year students in a Nigerian university. In a school-based cross-sectional study, 300 first-year univer- sity students within the ages of 16 and 31 years with mean age of 21.28 and standard deviation of 2.85 completed copies of a questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that being male, high perception of parents’ SES, low levels of responsiveness, high autonomy-granting, high demanding parenting styles and external ALoC were highly predictive of positive alcohol use attitudes and accounted for 41% of the variance. Positive alcohol atti- tudes were mostly predicted by high level of autonomy- granting and less responsive parenting styles, with alcohol- related locus of control recording the lowest contribution. Effective alcohol-related attitudinal change among students should be encouraged while less autonomy-granting and more responsive parenting styles should be adopted by parents. We recommend especially for the male students, the need to see themselves as capable of controlling alco- hol-related attitude and behaviour. Keywords Alcohol attitude Á Alcohol locus of control Á Parenting styles Á First-year university students Á Nigeria Introduction All over the world, alcohol use has been enormously evi- dent among university students (Al-Ameri, Al-Badri, & Lafta, 2016; Davoren, Demant, Shiely, & Perry, 2016; Nkambule, Bhayat, & Madiba, 2018; Ruisoto, Cacho, Lopez-Goni, Vaca, & Jimenez, 2016). Similarly, previous studies have observed significant use of alcohol among Nigerian university students and youth in general (Abay- omo, Onifade, Adelufosi, & Akinhanmi, 2013; Abikoye & Adekoya, 2010; Adekeye, Adeusi, Cheube, Ahmadu, & Sholarin, 2015; Chikere & Mayowa, 2011). The con- sumption of alcohol has also been noted as hazardous among young people and university students (Abayomo et al., 2013; Abikoye & Olley, 2012; Davoren, Shiely, Byrne, & Perry, 2015; Mekonen, Fekadu, Chane, & Bitew, 2017). This leads to negative outcome like poor health alongside developmental, social and academic implications (Brown et al., 2008; Ellickson, Tucker, & Klein, 2003; Stueve & O’Donnell, 2005). Given this trend among uni- versity student population, students at their first year of study appear to be vulnerable and could be incapable of resisting peer pressure towards engaging in risky beha- viours. Studies have observed the problematic nature of the use of alcohol and attitude among first-year university students in many countries (Indiran, Kathryn, & Moron- gwa, 2015; Strunin et al., 2015). As first-year university students, the euphoria of being free from parental super- vision, availability of leisure periods, invite to parties, among other related factors might predispose this category of students to some risky behaviours such as alcohol mis- use or abuse. With this in mind, understanding some likely factors contributing to first-year students’ alcohol use attitudes might help in curtailing the possible alcohol & Abiodun Musbau Lawal abiodun.lawal@fuoye.edu.ng 1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria 2 Research Unit, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Mmabatho, South Africa 123 Psychol Stud https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-019-00513-2