PRIDE Survey Shows Students with Parents who Set and Enforce Clear Rules Less Likely to Report Drug Use

The 2008-09 PRIDE Survey showed that middle and high school students whose parents set clear rules for them "a lot" or "often" were less likely to report using illicit drugs in the past year (12 percent and 21 percent, respectively). By contrast, 49 percent of students whose parents never set clear rules reported a 49 percent illicit drug use.

Similar results were found for having parents who punish them for breaking these rules. Previous studies have found that youths living in households where parents kept track of their whereabouts and set curfews were less likely to report heavy drinking (for more information see CESAR FAX, Volume 17, Issue 31, www.cesar.umd.edu/).

The 2009 Pride Survey National Summary is based on the responses of 122,243 students selected from 447,532 students from 25 states who completed the Pride Survey for Grades 6 to 12 during the school year from August 2008 to June 2009. These students, while not drawn through a formal probability sampling process, do represent a broad cross-section of American youth. Results from previous years’ national summaries have tracked closely with nationwide surveys such as Monitoring the Future.

This was adapted by CESAR from PRIDE, Questionnaire Report for Grades 6 to 12, 2008-09 National Summary - Grades 6 thru 12, 2009. Available online at: www.pridesurveys.com/customercenter/us08ns.pdf.