Among young people aged 17, 85.7% have already tasted an alcoholic glass and 30% of alcohol consumption take place in the presence of parents, which is not necessarily a good thing. “We have long thought that if you teach your children to drink, they would have no problems with alcohol. Research carried out in recent decades has really shown that it was not true ”assures Lindsay Squeglia, researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston (United States), interviewed by National Geographic. The influence of parents on the relationship of their adolescents with alcohol is major and to best limit access to younger drinks to alcoholic beverages has long -term beneficial consequences in public health.
In fact, adolescents authorized to drink by their parents end up drinking more often and more abundantly than their peers to whom any absorption has been prohibited. This concerns both consumption at home, watched by parents – the famous “little sip to taste that will not hurt” -, as well as outside, without the presence of adults.
“It is linked to the establishment of standards”explains Rutger Engels, researcher at Erasmus University in Rotterdam (Netherlands). In the same way that we do not drive a vehicle without having a license, telling adolescents to wait for a certain age before drinking alcohol makes it possible to associate the practice with rules and limits. Naturally, the behavior of the parents themselves constitutes a landmark. Thus, regular or excessive and manifest consumption on their part can only normalize an attitude to the endorsement of their offspring.
Delay alcohol consumption
If it is undoubtedly illusory to bet on total abstinence in terms of alcohol in young people, delay as much as possible this consumption is important to preserve the development of the brain, in particular the frontal cortex, which continues until the age of 25 and ensures the control of executive functions.
As long as alcohol is used as a remedy to overcome difficulties in socializing with others, as is often the case in adolescence, it can lead to developing early dependence, which will guide future behaviors in terms of social interactions.
“For each year when a child delays his consumption of alcohol, the probability that he has problems during his lifetime is reduced by 14%. Our main message is: delay, delay, delay ”explains Lindsay Squeglia.
This is worth in particular for children who have family history of alcohol dependence. “If a child begins to drink at 13 and has a genetic predisposition, he is much more likely to have problems later”continues the researcher. However, if the same adolescent is waiting to be between 18 and 21 years old to start drinking, his risk of developing dependence decreases to such an extent that he is not different from someone who would not have any history of alcoholism.
