Understanding the Antecedents of Korean High School Students’ Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy: Parental Influence, Peer Influence, and Behavior

The current study examined the factors that influence Korean adolescents’ drinking refusal self-efficacy, which is known to be associated with alcohol use and drinking intentions. Specifically, this study considered parental monitoring, parent-child communication satisfaction, peer influence, and prior alcohol use as possible antecedents of Korean high school students’ drinking refusal self-efficacy. High school students (n = 538) in South Korea responded to the current study. The data revealed that parent-child communication satisfaction facilitated parental monitoring, and these factors indirectly predicted adolescents’ drinking behavior through peer influence. We also found that prior drinking, parental monitoring, and peer influence were directly associated with drinking refusal self-efficacy, and the self-efficacy, in turn, was associated with drinking intentions. These results not only suggest that drinking refusal self-efficacy are related to drinking behavior and intentions, but they also provide a theoretical explanation for how parental and peer influences are associated with adolescents’ drinking refusal self-efficacy.