Childhood experiences tied to early drinking

Those exposed to psychological disturbances like parental divorce, abuse and other hardships during childhood start drinking at a young age.

Past studies have shown that increased parent-child hostility is tied to a greater likelihood of drinking. To determine whether or not adverse childhood experiences lead to early drinking, researchers from America studied 3592 former drinkers, aged between 18 and 39 years. The researchers took into consideration parental alcohol use, parental attitude towards drinking and peer pressure for drinking for every participant. They were also asked about the age at which they started drinking and their initial motives for the same.
 
It was found that that those who had gone through certain negative experiences as a child were more likely to have started drinking before age 15 years. The negative experiences included physical abuse, sexual abuse, living with a mentally ill family member, substance abuse in the home, and parents' divorce or separation. Further, childhood abuse increased the risk of early drinking by three-fold and substance abuse doubled the risk. Adults whose parents had divorced or separated when they were children were 70 percent more likely to report early drinking than those whose parents stayed together.

The researchers noted that the adults who reported any of above stated five childhood experiences drank specifically to cope with their problems. Lack of adult supervision contributed to early drinking among the participants.

The findings add to the already existing evidence that negative childhood experiences are related to early drinking. The researchers stressed on having a strong parent-child bond that could prevent children from indulging in habits like alcohol use.

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