‘feeling the effects’ : how parental behaviour around alcohol impacts on children jonathan...
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‘Feeling the effects’: how parental behaviour around alcohol impacts on children
Jonathan BirdwellHead of Citizenship
Alcohol and Families Alliance Learning Seminar9th October 2014
Demos research: overview
1. Under the Influence, 20102. Feeling the Effects, 20123. Feeling the Effects:
Romania, forthcoming 2014
• Parenting style child’s alcohol outcomes?
• Parental alcohol consumption Parenting style child’s alcohol outcomes?
1. Under the Influence: Aims and methods
Parenting style child’s alcohol outcomes
1970 Birth Cohort Study (n=~17,600) Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and
Children (n= ~14,500)
Indicators Parents: affection and rule enforcement indicators Children: drinking over weekly recommended
units in adolescence (age 16) and as an adult (age 34) (BCS, Waves 4 & 7)
Parenting style indicators
Rule Enforcement Indicators:
My child should eat whenever s/he asks
I feel exasperated when I cannot calm my child
I am fine with a mess surrounding my child
Whining makes me want to hit my child
The best discipline is a smack I am afraid I will be violent with
my child I feel desperate when my child
is difficult I feel I am doing the right thing
for my child I am anxious if my child is not
eating the right food
Warmth Indicators:
The best way to calm a child is to cuddle
I think toddlers are fun I really love my toddler My child gives me great joy I am glad I had my child when I
did It is unbearable when my child
cries It is a pleasure watching my
child grow I feel anxious if someone else
looks after my child I am worried whether my child
eats enough
Parents with children aged 2-5, choose between ‘feel never’, ‘feel sometimes’, ‘feel exactly’ (ALSPAC)
Parenting style indicators
Rule Enforcement Indicators:
I am allowed to go to the park/playground alone
I am allowed to play in the street alone
I am allowed to go to the shops alone
I am allowed to go on local buses alone
I tell my parents where I am going
Someone is home after school I use my own door key to come
and go as I want
Warmth Indicators:
My family goes for walks together
My family goes for outings together
My family has meals together My parents like to hear about
my ideas I feel foolish talking to my
parents Time I spend talking to parents My mother’s attitude toward
me is (Hostile/Dismissive, Balanced, Affectionate)
Child, aged 10 (BCS Wave 3, 86% of original sample)
Parenting style indicators
Rule Enforcement Indicators:
How strict are your parents with you?
Do parents ask who you are going out with?
Do parents ask where are you going?
Would your parents be upset if you were caught shoplifting something under £10?
In the past 4 weeks I have had drinks with my parents’ knowledge
My parents are overprotective How would your parents feel if
they saw you smoking?
Warmth Indicators:
I do outdoor recreations with my parents
I sit down and eat a meal at home with my parents
My parents are understanding, I can talk to them
My parents are loving/caring/look after me
My parents are helpful/good in a crisis
I do things with both parents together
My feelings about living with my parents
Child, aged 16 (BCS Wave 4, 70% of original sample)
Control variables
Parental attributes Ethnicity Mother’s age at birth Marital status Home ownership
status Family income Education levels Father’s employment
status Drinking habits Social classes
Child attributes• Ethnicity• Religious practice• Attitude of morality
issues• Birth weight• Education level• Income• Marital status• Employment status• Number of children
Parenting style typology
Warm
Hostile
Permissive Controlling
LAISSEZ-FAIRE
DISENGAGED
TOUGH LOVE
AUTHORITARIAN
Under the Influence: Findings
High levels of parental warmth when the child is under 5 significantly reduce the chances the child will drink excessively at 16.
Disengaged parenting at age 10 and age 16 makes the child twice as likely to drink excessively at age 34.
Disengaged parenting at age 16 makes the child over eight times more likely to drink excessively at that age.
High levels of warmth until the age of 10 and strict discipline (of either the authoritarian or tough love kind) at the age of 16 are the best parenting approaches to reduce the likelihood a child will drink excessively in adolescence and adulthood.
2. Feeling the Effects: Aims and methods
Parental alcohol consumption Parenting style child’s alcohol outcomes?
How alcohol abuse impact on parenting, children and family home environment?
1970 Birth Cohort StudyIndicator: Child’s perception of frequency of parent
drinking: never, sometimes, often, always
Interviews with families (Adfam / Addaction) 50 Families with one alcoholic parent
(89 individuals including 26 children / young people) London, Bristol, Cambridge, Bury, Cumbria, Bridgend in
Wales and Glasgow in Scotland
Feeling the Effects: Findings
Parents who drink ‘always’ are between 2 and 2.5 times less likely to be ‘tough love’ parents than parents who drink ‘sometimes’. For mothers, each increase in alcohol consumption
increased the likelihood of a mother being a laissez faire style parent by up to 47%.
Mothers who drink ‘always’ are almost 2 times more likely to have children who drink at hazardous levels in adulthood than mothers who drink ‘sometimes’. No effect seen with fathers Peer drinking is more significant at age 16
Feeling the Effects: Findings from family interviews
Majority were single parents and female. One in five were in stable relationship.
Traumatic upbringings Half suffered violent or sexual abuse. Over half grew up with parents or grandparents with
alcohol problems Poor mental health depression, anxiety and agoraphobia
Worklessness Very few in full-time employment; lack of purpose and
structure leading to boredom and drinking
Feeling the Effects: Interview findings
Drinking behaviour Started very young, around 12-13 years old Drink inside the home. Key triggers included: relationship breakdown, past
traumatic experience, post-natal depression, mental health.
Parenting Very few parents classified themselves as ‘tough love Erratic behaviour – sometimes cloying, angry, violent,
emotional. Lack of consistency in terms of parent-child relationship,
failure to enforce discipline and stick to commitments
Recommendations
1. Information Awareness Campaigns targeting parents
Pilots in areas with highest alcohol-related harm
2. Light touch interventions Identification & Brief Advice (IBA) Early interventions: training for midwives, GPs, children
centres, schools
3. Family-based interventions• Parenting advice, techniques and support – not just
achieving abstinence, alcohol reduction• Give children a voice• Align alcohol support with mental health and
worklessness support
