Each parent has a unique experience and perspective on the topic of alcohol, but one thing unites most parents: the quandary that results when parents combine teenage drinking with their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors around drinking. How parents stand on the subject determines the role they will play in their children's lives pertaining to the use or non-use of alcohol. Alcohol: What's a Parent to Believe? is designed to help eliminate the perplexity and help parents think teenage drinking through by providing important and often overlooked information on the subject.
Biddulph covers a broad scope of issues related to alcohol use and adolescents. The issues include a discussion of the developmental phases faced by teens and of how drug use interferes with those developmental tasks. He delves into the disease concept of addiction with an emphasis on alcohol, adolescents, intervention, treatment, recovery, and prevention. He talks about the social factors that complicate perspectives. Readers will understand both the basic theory of addiction as a disease and the undeniable proof of alcohol's addictive nature. They will also learn the difference between use, abuse, and addiction and that only a minority of teens will get addicted. Biddulph sets the stage for a more realistic understanding of the need for treatment and recovery for alcohol dependence, speaking to parents who drink, used to drink, and those who have never drunk. His objective approach entices skeptics (those who see teenage drinking as a rite of passage) to read on. This book is jam packed with useful, honest statistics and perspectives regarding alcohol use and adolescents.
