Yoshimitsu Takie, Patrick Lynch, and G. Mike Charleston

ONE of the striking characteristics of the literature on drinking is its sheer volume. It is a phenomenon which can be studied by people representing various theoretical and disciplinary approaches. While this situation creates the opportunity for researchers to pursue diverse lines of inquiry (somewhat analogous to cancer research), it also makes it difficult for anyone interested in the topic to gain a coherent view without choosing to follow a particular approach or, to put it in another way, adopting a certain theoretical framework. Because of the fragmented character of the research on this topic, it is otherwise difficult to analyze this topic in a manner which is logical or coherent.

The theoretical approach selected for this study is that drinking is largely a social phenomenon and that it is strongly influenced by group norms. There is considerable evidence which suggests that norms related to drinking vary according to certain characteristics of people who drink. These systematic variations include age, sex, race, religion, ethnicity, social class and geographic region (e.g., Bales, 1949; Cahalan, et al., 1967; O’Conner, 1978; and Glassner and Berg, 1980). We considered, but did not pursue, the hypothesis that rapid economic or cultural changes created pressures on young Indians which force them to drink heavily (Topper, 1974), or the cultural conflict hypothesis (Bales, 1949; Streit and Nicolich, 1977).

Consistent with the theoretical framework selected for this study we decided to seek tentative answers to the following questions:

The research questions focused the inquiry on contrasting socialization of teenagers in families and peer groups in different Indian communities. The differences among sites as well as the possibility of posing rival hypotheses of socialization could then be studied. Studies show that teenagers who abstain tend to come from homes where the parents are abstainers, moderate drinkers come from families where parents exhibit moderation in drinking, and teenagers who are heavy drinkers are likely to report that their parents drink heavily (e.g., Bacon and Jones, 1968; Straus and Bacon, 1953; Akers, 1968; and Jessor and Jessor, 1973; Chappel et al., 1953; NIAAA, 1972; and Maddox, 1964).

Despite this pattern of inter-generational continuity, children do not necessarily grow into carbon copies of their parents and the attitudinal and behavioral divergence of children from their parents in this society tends to become more observable during the stage in life we call adolescence. Some scholars say that peers supplant parents as competing sources of influence on some adolescents (e.g., Coleman, 1961).

The issue of whether peers are more important than parents in influencing an adolescent’s behavior is extremely complex. Clearly the activity in question, the relationship between the parents and the adolescent, and the degree to which the adolescent is attracted to his or her peers are some of the factors which must be taken into account in weighing the comparative influence of either parents or peers (for example, see Kandel, 1978; Jessor and Jessor, 1977; Brittain, 1963).

The above summary of selected literature suggested the importance of utilizing the family as a unit of analysis for this study. It was decided to study families with both a preadolescent child and teenager living at home in order to increase the importance of the adolescent-preadolescent comparison of data.

The four sites selected for study were located in the upper midwestem section of this country. Two sites were located in rural areas close to a large city. One of these sites was a small reservation and the other was a small Indian community which was not a reservation. The third site was a metropolitan area which had a large Indian population for many years. The fourth site was a large reservation located several hundred miles away from the city.

In addition to using sites as units of analysis, it was decided also to use the family at those sites to be a unit at another level of analysis. The reason for using a family as a unit of analysis was that previous research suggests that parents can influence their children by serving as models of adult behavior. In the case of drinking, this process can be observed by the tendency for teenagers to report drinking patterns similar to that of their parents.

Separate interview instruments were constructed for adults, teenagers, and preadolescents. The interview schedules were designed to gather information such as patterns of family interaction, drinking behavior, and attitudes towards family members and drinking. The interviews were conducted by members of the community. This arrangement facilitated access to the families who were presumably more willing to be interviewed by community members than by non-Indian interviewers from outside the communities (see Note 2).

At the conclusion of the interviewing, the sample consisted of 130 adults, including 40 at one reservation site, 35 at the rural non-reservation site, 25 for the urban site and 30 at a second reservation site. There were 50 male and 80 female family heads. Seven (5%) of these adults characterized themselves as abstainers, 44 (34%) as ex-drinkers and 79 (61%) as present drinkers.

The sample of 71 children and 74 teenagers was distributed as follows: 20 teenagers and 17 children at the first reservation site; 20 teenagers and 19 children at the rural non-reservation site; 20 teenagers and 20 children at the urban site; and 14 teenagers and 15 children at the second reservation site.

The children in the sample were all in the fourth and fifth grades. Their older siblings, ages 13-19, were the teenagers in the study.

Distinct differences among the sites appear when we compare the drinking behavior of adults. At the small rural reservation (Site 1), 73% of the adults were current drinkers, 25% were former drinkers, and 3% were abstainers who claimed never to have been drinkers. However, at a nearby rural nonreservation site (Site 2), only 48% of the adults admitted to be current drinkers, 46% were once drinkers who had stopped drinking altogether and 6% were people who never became drinkers. Among the adults in the sample at the urban site (Site 3), 68% were current drinkers, 28% former drinkers, and 4% abstainers. At the large reservation (Site 4), 53% of the adults interviewed were drinkers, 37% were former drinkers, and 10% claimed they had never been drinkers.

Due to our decision to use families as the units to be sampled, the above distributions should not be taken as representing the drinking behavior among Indian adults at those sites. However, the differences suggest that drinking behavior of adults who have custody of children could differ quite dramatically among Indian communities. The sample included virtually the entire population of families with both an adolescent and a preadolescent child at Sites 1 and 2. Therefore, the differences between those sites could not be due to problems with sampling. The other possibility is that there was systematic falsification of information at certain sites. In other words, it was possible that people in certain communities may misinform interviewers about their drinking behaviors. We tried to counter this possibility by hiring local interviewers who presumably would be more aware of the existence of such norms in their own communities and who were instructed during their training session to assure the people they interviewed that presenting accurate information was important and not harmful to Indian people.

The data concerning abusive drinking behavior among adults also show variations by site. Forty percent (40%) of the adults interviewed at Site 3 (urban) reported that they drank until they were drunk nearly every time they drank. At Site 1, 28% of the adults claimed to get drunk nearly everytime they drank. The comparable responses were 17% at Site 4 and only 6% at Site 2. Clearly Site 2 had fewer adults who were current drinkers and fewer adults who drank abusively than at the other sites.

There was some evidence that church-going adults drank less and those with more involvement in tribal activities drank less than those adults who did not go to church and who were not involved so much in tribal activities. Abuse of alcohol by male parents is higher than by female parents. The earlier in life adults begin to drink heavily, the more apt they were to drink heavily in later life.

We will concentrate more attention on the results of the research concerning teenagers because the data for them clearly show the family and peer relationships which are associated with drinking by young Indians.

When we turn to the reported drinking behavior of adolescents, variations by sites are observable also. Using frequency of reported drinking by the adolescents in our sample as an example, at Site I those who never drank constituted 10% of the sample, those who drank once a month or less numbered 50% of the sample; and 40% reported drinking more than once a month. Among teenagers at Site 2, 20% reported never drinking, 50% claimed to drink once a month or less and 30% admitted to drinking more than once a month. For Site 3, 55% were abstainers, 25% were infrequent drinkers and 20% were somewhat frequent drinkers. At Site 4, 29% claimed to be abstainers, 50% drank once a month or less, and 21% reported drinking more than once a month.

With the illustration of data by sites, it is hoped that we have made an important point which future research should take into consideration. The variations in drinking patterns by site illustrate that drinking may be mostly a social phenomenon among many people (viz., it is not largely psychologically or physiologically based), and, if so, drinking behavior can change if community norms related to drinking change.

Consistent with the findings of previous studies, the drinking behavior of parents seems to influence the teenagers in this sample. The correlation between one of the custodial parents being a current drinker, and the frequency of drinking among the teenagers is .21 (which was not significant at the .05 level for an N of 74). On the other hand, the other indicators suggest that Indian teenagers who drink tend to be less controlled by and have less affectionate relationships with their parents than their peers who do not drink. Table 1 displays zero order correlations between frequency of teenager drinking and interactions with related adults and other teenagers.

TABLE 1
Correlations Between Teenagers’ Frequency of
Drinking and Interaction Variables with
Related Adults and Other Teenagers. N = 74

*Significant at .01 level.

For example, the teenagers were asked, "Which would concern you more? Your friends’ disapproval or your parents’ disapproval?" While 60% of those who chose "parents" admitted to being drinkers, 93% of those who chose "friends" were drinking currently. When items such as these were combined to form a "peer affinity" index, there was a fairly strong correlation between this index and frequency of drinking reported by the teenagers (r=.41). In other words, those students who were more likely to value their friends over parents tended to drink more frequently.

Furthermore, frequency of drinking was strongly related to the teenagers’ reporting that they were somewhat independent from their parents. For example, the correlation between spending nights away from home without parental permission and frequency of teenage drinking was .51. To put it in another way, those who spent more nights out without asking their parents or who reported making their own decisions without parental involvement tended to drink more frequently than those who reported being under the control of their parents. What is notable about these correlations is that they are stronger than the correlation of .21 between parental drinking and frequency of drinking among their teenage children. This suggests that factors other than whether their parents drink may be more important in influencing the drinking of Indian teenagers.

Turning to the items in the questionnaire which were intended to obtain indicators of the teenagers’ assessment of their relationship with parents, the data consistently showed a pattern of teenage drinking being related to less affectionate ties with parents. For example, 69% of those adolescents who said their fathers praised or encouraged them less than once a month for what they did were drinkers, whereas only 29% of those who reported their fathers said something encouraging to them more than once a week were admitted drinkers at the time of the study. Similar patterns were evident in reported feelings of being close to their parents and not being criticized frequently by their parents. The older the teens were, the more frequently they drank (.29) which is related also to their independence from parents. More ominously, the frequency of drinking was quite strongly correlated with use of drugs (.42).

We must emphasize, however, that these data should not be interpreted to suggest a cause and effect relationship. It would be going beyond what the data inform us if it is concluded that the teenagers tend to drink because they feel their parents are cold and uncaring. It is conceivable that the teenagers’ drinking, in some cases, spoiled what formerly had been a fairly affectionate relationship between the parents and their teenager.

Some research suggests that adolescent drinking is related to individual temperament or rebellious behavior patterns during childhood. Two researchers who examined data from a longitudinal study of 113 subjects concluded that being identified by parents as having a "difficult" temperament while young was associated with tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use during adolescence (Lerner and Vicary, 1984). However, the data we obtained from pre-adolescents suggest that the quality of family relationship may affect Indian teenagers’ drinking more than a manifestation during early childhood of difficult or rebellious behavior.

Approximately 21% of the fourth and fifth graders interviewed had tried drinking. Only one out of the 71 in our sample drank regularly. Therefore, the vast majority of these children had not begun to drink seriously when they were interviewed. However, the patterns of the drinking behavior of their older brothers and sisters were becoming observable among the preadolescents.

Although the frequency of drinking among these children was sporadic, it nevertheless was correlated with the drinking score of their older brother or sister (.28). It was also correlated with their older siblings’ score on peer affinity (r=.29) as well as their own expressed affinity toward their peers (r=.27). In other words, when a child has an older brother or sister who values the approval of his or her friends (which we have seen is positively related to drinking among teenagers) or the child values the approval of his or her friends, the child tends to drink. Furthermore, if the child has a positive attitude toward drinking, he or she is likely to drink (r=.41) and those who drink tend to have tried drugs (r=.54). (See Table 2)

Our data indicate that there is a degree of continuity among siblings. When the older child is peer-oriented and drinks, the younger brother or sister tends to follow the path of the older sibling.

TABLE 2
Correlations Between Pre-Adolescents’
Frequency of Drinking and
Attitudes and Drug Use. N = 71

It was stated at the start of this paper that according to the theoretical approach used in this study, we view drinking as being largely a social phenomenon which is strongly influenced by group norms. Our data are congruent with this theoretical approach. First, there is considerable variation by site in the reported drinking behaviors of adults and teenagers. Second, the degree of attachment to either parents or friends seems to be related to drinking among both teenagers and their younger brothers or sisters. Youths who do not drink are closer to their parents affectively and are under greater control by their parents. Therefore, those who drink tend to be youths who report less affectionate ties to their parents, consider their friends to be very important in their lives, and claim to do things without consulting their parents. The image this description evokes is that of a teenager who is rejecting parental authority. One way in which adolescents can assert their independence or autonomy from parental control is through drinking. Therefore, teenagers might drink even if they know drinking (or using drugs) can have negative consequences on their health.

If there is merit to the above proposition, then it serves to "explain" an anomoly noted in other studies on Indian drinking as well as in this one (see Note 3). Attitudinally, the teenagers in this study tend to assess the drinking behavior of others negatively while, at the same time, admitting that they drink. When asked if they thought Indian teenagers drink too much, 89% who admitted to drinking answered affirmatively. Eighty-five percent (85%) who had tried drinking said "yes" to a similar question about adults. An overwhelming 91 % answered negatively when asked if parents should drink in front of their children.

One of the contradictions we have in this society is the continuous attempts to control behavior of people through legal means while, at the same time, valuing independence as a people. One of the ways in which this contradiction is manifested is in the area of consuming alcohol. By attempting through legislation to restrict the young from drinking, drinking has become identified as an adult activity. To the extent that adults enjoy higher status than children, drinking is associated in the minds of many with independence or autonomy. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suggest that legal efforts to confine drinking to those over 21 will not, in all probability, result in a lower incidence of drinking by teenagers. The variations in drinking patterns which we found among the four communities suggest that community norms affect drinking behavior. Therefore, those who are concerned with this problem should concentrate their efforts on developing community norms which promote moderation in drinking instead of agitating for more restrictive legislation to regulate drinking among the young.

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