Year of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Communication Studies

Department or School/College

Communication Studies

Committee Chair

Dr. Christina G. Yoshimura

Commitee Members

Dr. Heather Voorhees, Dr. Sarah Reese

Keywords

parent-adolescent, alcohol, storytelling, CNSM, athletics

Publisher

University of Montana

Subject Categories

Interpersonal and Small Group Communication

Abstract

Parent-child communication about alcohol is a beneficial method for protecting adolescents against the risks of alcohol use, and may be particularly helpful among adolescents in the athletic community, where membership is a risk factor for alcohol use. Communicated Narrative Sense-Making theory (CNSM) was used as a guiding framework to ask 10 parent-adolescent dyads in youth sports to jointly tell a story about alcohol. Analyses were conducted thematically as well as through quantitative coding of Interactional Sense-Making (ISM) behaviors. Results show that in joint storytelling about alcohol in this study, parents often communicated tragedy, sought out their child’s thoughts about alcohol, and mentioned their family’s “typical” alcohol behaviors. Additionally, adolescents made sense of intoxicated adults by describing their “weird” behavior and shared their perspectives of alcohol, and both parties discovered new information and differing perspectives as a result of storytelling. Interactive results revealed moderate levels of ISM behaviors and a notable parent-adolescent power dynamic in ISM, wherein parents engaged more than their children in interactive behaviors. Findings offer new insights about the content of naturally occurring parent-adolescent communication about alcohol, and implications for families, researchers, and prevention programs are discussed.

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