A review of research into how young people learn to drink alcohol reveals that parents and alcohol’s representation in the media have the strongest influence on drinking habits, whereas peers have the least.
The report, published today (30 October) by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that of all the methods which have been tried to encourage young people to drink responsibly, ones based on the family are the most effective.
Children, young people and alcohol: how they learn and how to prevent excessive use, by Professor Richard Velleman, from the University’s Mental Health Research & Development Unit, found that young people tend to copy what their parents do, rather than what they say. Higher levels of family support tend to decrease excessive use of alcohol. These higher levels of parental support can offset the impact of advertising on young people.
The author recommends a number of steps to help parents prevent their children from excessive drinking. These include:
- Delay the onset of drinking. There needs to be a concerted move to alter people’s norms, so that they do not introduce alcohol to children at too young an age. Contrary to popular opinion, continental drinking styles do not involve giving children sips of alcohol at (for example) age 8; in fact, on the continent, young people tend to start drinking at a much later age and to drink considerably less than in the UK.
- A strong family life is important, activities such as eating an evening meal together five or more times a week can help create open communication and strong family bonds. The author suggests that family programmes are not only offered and delivered to vulnerable families as per the NICE Guidance, but to everyone – a universal prevention programme.
- Change children’s and young people’s understanding of their own drinking. Most young people do not see themselves as ‘binging’ or ‘drinking riskily’ or in fact doing anything abnormal, even if they are actually drinking excessively. A ‘cultural norm’ has grown up such that young people expect that they will drink heavily, and that that is what most people do. This ‘cultural norm’ needs changing.
- Make it harder for young people to purchase alcohol. The expectation of early drinking is not only held by children themselves and by their parents, but is condoned or colluded with by society as a whole: it is remarkably easy for young people (even very young ones) to be able to purchase alcohol.
- Prevention programmes need to be started young, not when families are starting to consider how to prevent teenage drinking.
- Parents should be aware of how their children spend their money so that there is a better understanding about how much money children have and whether it is being spent appropriately.
The report’s author, Richard Velleman, said: “Parents need to understand that their behaviour has a strong influence over their children’s drinking habits. There needs to be a coherent and coordinated plan to reduce the amount of heavy binge drinking in a significant minority of young people in the UK.”