Media Ready Parent will help parents effectively communicate with their child about substance use, as well as provide parents and youth with enhanced media literacy skills that can be used to counter unhealthy media messages. For example, the program will redress inaccurate normative beliefs about substance use that are often perpetuated in media messages by teaching critical media analysis and countering information in media messages with medically-accurate information. Throughout the program parents will also learn about the impact of peer pressure on teen substance use and be provided with strategies to share with their teen to resist peer pressure. Parents will also learn how their own behaviors can impact their child’s substance use. Media Ready Parent will help parents engage in effective parent-child communication about legal (i.e., prescription) and illegal drugs, as well as equipping parents and youth to communicate with medical professionals (e.g., pediatrician) about substance use.

This project has the potential to have a sustained impact through the development and testing of a program that addresses the often-ignored influence of media on adolescent substance use while bolstering the quality of parent-child communication.