The topic of alcohol and teens and tweens can be a bit of a nightmare for parents - in our modern-day drinking culture, it’s difficult to stop our kids from trying a drink while our backs are turned.
With so many children starting to drink in their very early teens, parents grapple with the concept of permission and monitoring – but a new study is providing some guidance.
According to a major new study, it has emerged that children who are given alcohol by their parents are three times less likely to binge-drink; this is in comparison to their peers who are given alcohol by someone outside of the family.
Researchers also found that those children introduced to alcohol by their parents are statistically more likely to drink LESS in one sitting.
The findings present something of a double-edged sword, however, as the study also showed that children given alcohol by their parents are also more likely to be drinking full serves by the time they reach 16.
The study was carried out by a team at the UNSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, with researchers analysing data from almost 2,000 children and their parents over a four-year period.
The study was based in Sydney, Perth and Tasmania, with the results published in the journal Psychological Medicine.
As for the age when children should be introduced to alcohol, Professor Mattick says his team is on the case.
“I should say, we are following these kids right into adulthood, and we really can’t answer this question until the kids are in their twenties at least.
“But I can say that there are still a range of acute harms that underage drinking can cause, from unwanted sexual activity in young women, getting involved in other problematic situations like fights and trauma, down to the more serious events that preoccupy the media, like one-punch attacks,” said Professor Mattick.
