Researchers say children closely observe drinking at home, including family toasts, alcohol served with meals and changes in adults’ behavior after drinking.
"Children learn about drinking by observing their parents, taking part in everyday rituals and interpreting adults’ behavior after alcohol," said Łukasz Wieczorek of the Department of Studies on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence at Warsaw’s Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology.
The qualitative study involved 81 mothers and fathers living in communities ranging from villages to cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants.
It found that parents often try to draw a boundary between the adult and child worlds. Some avoid drinking visibly in front of their children, do not include them in toasts or explain why alcohol is restricted to adults.
Children notice far more than the presence of a bottle or glass, Wieczorek said. They observe adults’ moods, relationships and changes in speech and behavior, and may tell their parents when a situation involving alcohol makes them uncomfortable or unsafe.
The findings suggest that discussion about parental drinking should focus less exclusively on how much or how often adults drink in front of children.
"We should be asking slightly different questions, such as how a child interprets a situation in which alcohol is present," Wieczorek said. That includes what meaning children attach to alcohol and what emotions and relationships they observe during family drinking rituals.
The World Health Organization has similarly warned that parental behavior helps shape children’s beliefs about alcohol.
Even occasional drinking at home can contribute to children seeing alcohol consumption as a normal part of social life.
Polish child psychologist Aleksandra Piotrowska said family celebrations remain a powerful source of that message.
"The vast majority of Polish children have the opportunity to watch people raising toasts," she said during a podcast produced by the Siła w rodzinie (Strength Through Family) campaign.
"We are still a long way from protecting children from absorbing the cultural pattern that where there is a gathering or a party, there is alcohol," she added.
The issue extends beyond Poland. The 2024 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs found that across participating countries, 33 percent of students had tried alcohol by age 13 or younger, while 8 percent reported having been drunk by that age.
Researchers say parental disapproval of underage drinking can have a protective effect.
The Polish study found that many parents try to prepare children for an eventual encounter with alcohol through conversations about its effects, risks and rules of responsible behavior.
Some parents said they would prefer their child’s first drink to take place in their presence, where they could control the situation.
Wieczorek said such approaches still come after a much earlier process of learning.
(rt/gs)
Source: zdrowie.pap.pl