Drugs: education, prevention and policy, Early Online: 1–9 Copyright ß 2012 Informa UK Ltd. ISSN: 0968-7637 print/1465-3370 online DOI: 10.3109/09687637.2012.713409 The role of parenting styles and alcohol expectancies in teen binge drinking: A preliminary investigation among Italian adolescents and their parents Fiorenzo Laghi 1 , Antonia Lonigro 2 , Roberto Baiocco 1 , & Emma Baumgartner 1 1 Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy and 2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy As adolescents’ alcohol abuse is more widespread almost everywhere, the aim of this study was to better understand the influence of both alcohol expectancies and parenting styles on this risky behaviour in order to allow the development of future prevention programmes, by evaluating the correlation between these variables. A total of 1500 subjects participated in this study: 500 high school students were asked to complete different question- naires concerning their consumption attitude, and their beliefs on alcohol, whereas their parents (N ¼ 1000) were asked to evaluate parenting styles. According to previous studies, the sample was classified into non-drinkers, social, binge and heavy drinkers. Consistent with the hypothesis, statistical analysis showed that both alcohol expectancies and parenting style significantly differ within these groups, thus being powerful predictors of high-risk drinking patterns. INTRODUCTION The amount of alcohol consumption among European adolescents has increased in recent years and policy- makers and planners in preventive public health are focusing their efforts on the development of effective programmes in order to control this trend. Indeed, as the World Health Organization (WHO) claims, preventive alcohol programmes and direct action should be based on the best scientific evidence and should be sensitive to cultural differences (Beccaria & Prina, 2009). European research, like ESPAD (Hibell et al., 2003) and HBSC (Currie et al., 2003), found among European adolescents an increase of alcohol consumption and a homogenization of drinking styles that probably reflect globalization processes. As claimed by the ESPAD report (Hibell et al., 2003), which observed alcohol and other drug use among students in 35 European countries, in two-thirds of the ESPAD countries 90% or more of the students had drunk alcohol at least once in their lifetime. The Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Isle of Man and Latvia reported the highest percentages, while Turkey the smallest proportion. It is also true that not all students who reported a once in a lifetime experience of alcohol used it as recently as during the last 12 months. Only in 10 out of the 35 countries 90% or more of the students claimed to have used alcohol during the last 12 months. Once again the Czech Republic, Denmark, Isle of Man, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Greece, the Slovak Republic and the UK maintain their primacy as countries where adolescents use more alcohol than other European counterparts. The data do not change when alcohol consumption is investigated in the last 30 days and Turkish adolescents appear to be more cautious in alcohol use. In Italy, as highlighted by the Doxa Survey for the Permanent Observatory on Young People and Alcohol (2007), between 2000 and 2005, an increase in alcohol consumption among adolescents was observed and overall the total number of young consumers grew by 6% in 10 years (from 1994 to 2005). In the Sixth Doxa Survey for the Permanent Observatory on Young People and Alcohol (2011), the most recent Italian survey, the number of Italian alcohol consumers for the 13–24 age group is around 70% (76% for males and 63.6% for females), confirming the results of the ISTAT (the Italian National Statistics Institute) Multiscope Survey (Scafato, 2005). In particular, breaking down the 13–24 age group and focusing on Correspondence: F. Laghi, Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome 00185, Italy. Tel: +39 06 49 91 7619. Fax: +39 06 49 91 7672. E-mail: fiorenzo.laghi@uniroma1.it 1 Drugs Edu Prev Pol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Ottawa on 10/09/12 For personal use only.