Investigating the Impact of Parenting Styles on the Tendency Toward Drug Use Among High School Adolescents

This review synthesizes and critically appraises empirical evidence from longitudinal, cross-sectional, and systematic review studies investigating the association between parenting styles and adolescents’ propensity toward substance usewithin high school populations. Guided by Baumrind’s typology—authoritative,authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful—the analysis emphasizes the role ofparental warmth, demandingness, and behavioral monitoring in shaping risktrajectories. Authoritative parenting, characterized by high responsiveness andhigh control, consistently emerges as a protective factor, whereas authoritarian,permissive, and especially neglectful styles correlate with elevated susceptibility to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and illicit drug use. Mediating mechanismsinclude perceived social support, peer affiliation patterns, and personality traitssuch as neuroticism, conscientiousness, and sensation seeking. Across studies,neglectful parenting is linked with the highest prevalence rates (5%–61%) of substance use, underscoring the need for early family-based interventions. This1review highlights the importance of culturally contextualized prevention strategies, advocating for parental education programs that integrate emotional responsiveness with effective monitoring to mitigate substance use tendencies amongadolescents.Keywords: Parenting styles, adolescent substance use, psychosocial mediators,Baumrind typology, high school drug abuse, authoritative parenting, culturalvariation