Childhood behaviour problems can predict teenage binge drinking
Media Release, Monday 28 August 2006
Behavioural problems in children as young as five years old can be a precursor to binge drinking in teenage years, according to new University of Melbourne research.
Using data from an extensive longitudinal study based at the Australian Institute of Family Studies in which young Victorians were followed from infancy to 22 years of age, the research finds that early behavioural problems, difficult temperament and poor social skills predict binge drinking in adolescence.
Dr Katie Waters used the data from more than 1600 young people participating in the Australian Temperament Project to look at alcohol use from 13 to 18 years and identify early predictors and later consequences of different drinking patterns.
Half of the adolescents had used alcohol by 14 years, rising to over 90 per cent by 18 years. The amount of binge drinking increased throughout adolescence.
The young people fell into five distinct groups – from those who abstained from drinking entirely between 13 and 18, to a small number who binged regularly from the ages of 13 to 18 and experienced harmful consequences such as memory loss, physical injury and school and family troubles.
Sixty young people, with various drinking patterns, were also interviewed for Dr Waters’ research project at 22 years.
“What set the binge drinkers apart from more moderate drinkers was that they were more likely to have experienced difficulties in childhood, such as behavioural problems, poor social skills and difficult temperament, many of which were apparent as young as five years old,’’ Dr Waters says.
“Social factors, such as having friends who used substances or were involved in anti-social behaviour, poorer family relationships, and some parenting styles, were also linked to binge drinkers’ consumption, although these problems were also found in those who were drinking at a moderate level.”
Difficulties in five to 12 year-old children which could predict future binge drinking problems included: hyperactivity, aggression, depression, volatility and lower social skills (such as empathy, cooperation and self-control).
“Having a child with such problems does not necessarily mean that the child will become a binge drinker but this research shows it can be an early warning sign for heavy alcohol use and warrants early intervention,’’ she says.
Dr Waters’ research, supervised by Associate Professor Ann Sanson, also found that:
• There was no difference between girls and boys in patterns of adolescent alcohol use;
• Alcohol use increased remarkably between adolescence and young adulthood for all groups;
• Moderate drinkers in adolescence experienced the biggest increase in consumption in young adulthood, suggesting that moderate use in adolescence does not protect young people from harmful consumption patterns in the future; and
• Adolescent abstainers, although generally no longer abstinent, were not drinking at harmful levels in young adulthood, suggesting this could protect against future harmful levels of use.
“However, the research also found that adolescent drinking patterns did not seem to influence a young person’s social and psychological adjustment in early adulthood,’’ Dr Waters says.
“This is not to say that excessive alcohol use in teenagers is not a problem, but it may be more that binge drinking causes problems at the time rather than in the future – we need more research in this area."
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