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 A "substantial proportion" of UK children live with parents who
aren't dependent on alcohol but who still drink at moderate levels,
the study authors say.
"We needed to understand the effect this drinking could have on
children," coauthor Lucy Bryant of the Institute of Alcohol Studies
in London told Reuters Health by email.
Bryant's team surveyed 997 adults and 997 children ages 10 to 17
(one parent and child in a household). Parents were asked how much
alcohol they consumed and how often they drank for reasons both
negative and positive. The children were asked if they had ever seen
their parent "tipsy" or "drunk", and whether the drinking affected
parents' behavior.
Overall, 51% of the children had seen their parent tipsy and 31% had
seen the parent drunk, the researchers reported in Alcohol and
Alcoholism.
More than a third of the children - 35% - named at least one
negative effect of their parent's drinking.
Children most commonly reported getting less attention (12%) and
being put to bed later than usual (11%). They also felt parents
argued more (8%) and behaved in a more unpredictable way (8%).
Fifty-six percent of parents said they sometimes drink to relax or
feel happier, and 29% said that was almost always the reason they
drank. About 1 in 4 said they sometimes drink when they feel
depressed or nervous, or to escape their problems.
Children were more than twice as likely to report a negative outcome
when parents reported drinking for negative reasons.
The more alcohol parents regularly consumed, the more likely
children were to report negative outcomes. When parents were divided
into 3 groups based on how much alcohol they consumed in the last 28
days, children whose parents drank at the medium level (between 8
and 26 drinks) were 71% more likely than those of lower-consumption
parents to report negative outcomes. And children whose parents
drank at the highest level (more than 26 drinks in the last 28 days)
were more than twice as likely to report negative outcomes as
children whose parents drank less.
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The impact of parents' drinking seemed lower in 14- to 17-year-olds,
but the authors said further research is needed to find out why.
"It is possible the older age-group truly experience less harm, but
it is also likely some of the negative outcomes we presented, for
example, playing less, might not have resonated with them," Bryant
said.
The findings contribute to growing evidence about the harm to
children whose parents' drinking stays within guideline-recommended
limits, said Emmert Roberts, MRC Clinical Research Fellow in the
National Addiction Centre, King's College London.
The study doesn't prove parents' drinking directly caused negative
experiences in children, he said. "It could also be due to something
else, not linked to the alcohol," Roberts, who was not part of the
current study, told Reuters Health in an email.
Roberts also noted that based on the survey questions, the
researchers can't be sure none of the parents in the study were
problem drinkers.
And while the parents matched the demographic profile of UK adults,
they might not match the profile of UK parents, the researchers
acknowledge.
Even so, they say, the findings could help parents and policymakers
take steps to reduce the impact on children.
Roberts said a broader alcohol strategy is needed.
"We need to think about tackling alcohol at a public health level,
thinking about its affordability and availability and the way
alcohol is marketed," he added.
"By tackling those things at a population level, we can hope to
reduce the overall amount of alcohol harming society, both for
individuals who drink and those who don't such as their children."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2QAUG8p Alcohol and Alcoholism, online
November 5, 2019.
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