Mexican Adolescents' Alcohol Use, Family Intimacy, and Parent-Adolescent Communication

Despite widespread adolescent alcohol use, research on individual and contextual factors among Mexican adolescents is limited. This study describes the relationship between adolescent risk/protective factors, parent-adolescent communication, and their effects on alcohol use of 14- to 17-year-old adolescents living in Mexico ( N = 829; 458 girls, 371 boys). In this study, adolescents reported that 55% ever used alcohol, 24% used alcohol in the past 30 days, and 10% reported binge drinking. Adolescents with high family intimacy were less likely to report ever using alcohol and binge drinking. Regression analysis revealed that parent-adolescent communication mediated the effect of family intimacy on overall and binge drinking. Alcohol use prevention with Mexican adolescents should focus on family intimacy and parent-adolescent communication.