Parental Influence on School-Aged Youths' Decision Not to Misuse Drugs: A Qualitative-Phenomenological Investigation

Abstract

The proposal examines the influence of parental behaviour on mediating drug misuse in children. The assumption is that constructive parenting processes help children to self-regulate and to acquire positive behaviours, which reduce drug abuse. Constructive parental processes include parental knowledge of youth behaviour, and the relationship between parenting dimensions and youth’s self-disclosure, to parents and family. The research itself will be qualitative-phenomenological, and will explore what families believe caused their children to refrain from substance misuse. The purpose of this research is to look for commonalities in parenting processes, which lead to the mediation of drug misuse in children, in a selected population. The findings of this research could be used to develop programs for families of school children from communities with similar demographics to help prevent drug misuse.