Understanding the influence of parent-child conversations about dangers of drug use on cannabis use among high school students in Barbados.

Abstract

Background: Parent-child conversations are very important in influencing adolescent/youth behaviours. Objective of this study was to assess association between parent-child conversations on dangers of drug use and cannabis use among secondary school students in Barbados.

Materials and method: Data from the Barbados National School Survey (NSS) 2013 were analysed. Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of high school students drawn from 2^nd to 6^th forms across public and private secondary schools in Barbados in 2013. Descriptive analysis was done for sociodemographic characteristics and parent-child conversations. Multivariate logistic regression was done to assess the association between parent-child conversations on dangers of drug use and cannabis use among the subjects before and after adjusting for covariates.

Results: Parent-child conversations on dangers of drug use were significantly associated with past year cannabis use both before and after adjusting for covariates (crude odds ratio [COR] = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.04-1.38; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] adjusted odds ratio = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.15-1.58) but with students' past month cannabis use only in the unadjusted logit model. Being 15-16 years, male, enrolled in 4^th form, and belonging to widowed family structure was associated with reduced odds of past year and past month cannabis use.

Conclusion: Significant positive association between parent-child conversations on the dangers of drug use with cannabis use is counter-intuitive and suggests that it is not just conversations but the type, content, and quality of conversations that matter in reducing students' inclination to use cannabis.