Parents grow in influencing
teen choices, study shows

NEW YORK, NY - Teenagers say their parents are much more influential than advertising or television in the decisions they make about key life issues such as drinking and career choices, a new Roper Starch study shows.

Among 13-to-17-year-olds, parents top the list as the leading influence on drinking decisions: 62% of teens cite them on the issue, versus 28% for friends, 9% for teachers, 7% for television and 4% for advertising, according to the l996 Roper Youth Report released today. The study involved face-to-face interviews with 500 children nationwide age 13-17.

Interestingly, on the matter of drinking among teens, parental influence seems to be on the upswing--rising 9 points from 53% the year before, after having been relatively flat since 1991.

"Considering the number of information sources out there, it is notable that parents are gaining more rather than less influence over these decisions," says Roper vice president Joan Chiaramonte, who directed the study. "This is consistent with other Roper research showing increasing parental concern with youth behavior.

"The survey results suggest that when it comes to major life decisions, teens take their cues from parents. However, when it comes to lesser issues, other factors such as friends, television and advertising play a more significant role."

In picking a career path, teens say parents are their chief role models (49%), followed distantly by teachers (22%), friends (14%), television (7%) and advertising (4%).

When it comes to clothing, teens are more influenced by friends (57%) and television (23%), than by parents (20%) and advertising (17%).

As for how they spend money, teens say friends exert the most impact for 34%. Advertising (25%) and television (24%) wield as muchinfluence as parents (26%).

Music listening choices are most dictated by friends (69%). Television is the second most important influence (21%), while advertising affects the decisions of just 8%.

Reflecting growing national concern among adults about the way young people think and act, the majority of teens report parents have instituted strict rules across the board at home.

Informing parents where they go when leaving the house, bed time on week nights, time required for homework and selection of TV programs are the most widely enforced rules, teens report.

The top concern of teens is the spread of AIDS (61%), followed bykidnapping of children (46%), the use of illegal drugs (44%) and homelessness (44%).

The study's margin of sampling error is +/- 5 percentage points.

The Roper Youth Report is conducted annually by Roper Starch Worldwide, one of the nation's largest marketing and public-opinion research firms.