Led by Dr Megan Cook and Professor Emmanuel Kuntsche, from the Centre of Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe’s School of Psychology and Public Health, the team surveyed 329 children, aged four to six years old.

Participants completed an electronic task in which they attributed various beverages to illustrated persons. Their parents then completed an online survey that included information on alcohol use and exposure.

The study found a gender-specific effect of exposure to parents' (particularly mothers') drinking on young children's perceptions of person-specific drinking norms.

“By the time consumption is initiated, it is based on years of this observational learning alongside the physical and social contexts in which children live, alcohol's availability, price, and marketing,” Megan and Emmanuel said. “Although there are a variety of potential sources, when children are at a young age parents play a primary role in observational learning and modelling.”

According to the researchers, the focus must not be on how much they drink but rather, on when they drink in the presence of children, “Some parents may consume alcohol frequently but only when out with adult friends or when children are in bed – so these children have zero exposure to parents’ drinking. By comparison, other parents may consume alcohol less frequently, but when they do consume, it is in the presence of their children.”

”This early exposure is important to study because norms play a role in regulating young people's drinking, predicting heavy and problem drinking in 17 to 19 year-olds.”

The study's core findings included:

  • Fathers consumed alcohol about nine times in the previous four weeks, about three and a half drinks more than mothers.
  • Fathers were more likely to report drinking in situations that expose children to alcohol (i.e., when at a restaurant), than mothers.
  • Children attributed alcohol to the females in the illustrations 51 per cent of the time, mothers 35 per cent, other females 16 per cent (including female friends and grandmothers), males 89 per cent, fathers 62 per cent, and other males 26 per cent (including male friends and grandfathers).

Read the full study here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/a...

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