Normative feedback for parents of college students: Piloting a parent based intervention to correct misperceptions of students' alcohol use and other parents' approval of drinking

• Examines efficacy of alcohol normative feedback for parents of college students.
• Post-feedback, parents perceived other parents to be less approving of alcohol.
• Normative feedback promoted greater intentions to talk to students about alcohol.
• Parents believed that their student drank more after viewing normative feedback.

ObjectiveMulti-component parent-based interventions (PBIs) provide a promising avenue for targeting alcohol use and related consequences in college students. Parents of college-aged children can have a significant influence on their children's alcohol use decisions. However, parents tend to underestimate their own child's alcohol use and overestimate other similar parents' approval of student drinking. These misperceptions could have important implications for parents' own attitudes and alcohol-related communication with their student. Targeting these misperceptions through normative feedback could help promote greater and more in-depth alcohol-related communication. The present study examines the potential efficacy of web-based alcohol-related normative feedback for parents of college students.MethodA sample of 144 parents of college students received web-based normative feedback about students' alcohol use and approval, as well as other same-college parents' alcohol approval. Parents completed measures of perceived student alcohol use, student alcohol approval, other-parent alcohol approval, and intentions to discuss alcohol use both pre- and post-normative feedback.ResultsPost-feedback, parents reported stronger intentions to talk to their student about alcohol, were less confident in their knowledge of their students' alcohol use, and believed that their student drank in greater quantity and more frequently than pre-feedback. Parents also perceived other parents to be less approving of alcohol use after viewing normative feedback.ConclusionsThese findings provide preliminary support for the use of web-based normative feedback for parents of college students. Given these promising results, further research developing and testing this approach merits attention.