A new national study of parents’ attitudes about teen drug abuse released by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the MetLife Foundation shows strong increases in parents’ awareness of teen abuse of prescription medications.

The 14th annual Parents Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) revealed that the number of parents who mistakenly believe that abusing prescription medicines is “much safer” than using illicit street drugs dropped by nearly half in a single year’s time — from 19 percent in 2007 to just ten percent in 2008.  Major progress was also reported regarding beliefs about the addictive potential of some prescription medicines when misused. In 2007, 24 percent of parents believed that intentional abuse of prescription medicines would not be addictive.  In 2008, that number decreased significantly to 11 percent.

This heightened awareness has not yet resulted in an increase in the number of parents talking to their kids about the risks of prescription drug abuse, although the study did show that parent-teen discussions about the risks of abusing over-the-counter cough medicine have increased nearly 18 percent, with 65 percent of parents reporting these discussions, versus 55 percent in 2007.

• — Media — particularly television — is an important motivator in prompting discussions about drugs and alcohol.  In 2008, 70 percent of parents surveyed reported that something portrayed in the media prompted a conversation with their child about drugs or alcohol, and 64 percent specified that they were motivated to start a discussion by seeing something drug-related on television.
• — There are dramatic differences in attitudes between mothers and fathers when it comes to addressing drugs and alcohol.
• — Fathers were nearly three times as likely to believe that drug education should take place in school (34 percent of fathers versus 10 percent of mothers).
• Mothers were less likely to report having difficulty enforcing rules about drugs and alcohol and monitoring their teen.  About 18 percent of fathers said they found it difficult to enforce rules about alcohol, cigarette or drug use, versus just 10 percent of mothers.
• — Fathers place greater value on being their child’s friend (59 percent of fathers, 51 percent of mothers) although the majority of parents thought friendship with their child was important.

Learn more about PATS and download the full research report.