Researchers have said that children’s behaviour, from as early as three to five years old, can be used to predict whether they are likely to use alcohol and illicit drugs as teenagers.
A US study published in the July/August issue of the journal Child Development tracked 514 children of alcoholic parents and matched them with control families, both of which were studied across the past decade.
Researchers from Idaho and Michigan State Universities rated the preschoolers’ capacity to control their impulses, behaviour, adaptability and resilience.
The team continued the evaluation every three years thereafter until the children turned 12 to 14.
Once the participants reached adolescence, the teenagers shared information on their drinking habits and drug use.
Results showed that those who displayed a low-level of behavioural control and resiliency at age three to five were more likely to drink at an early age.
Alternatively, teenagers who showed a higher resiliency in early childhood were less likely to start to drink or experience drunkenness in their early teens.
Also, they were less likely to show signs of sadness, anxiety, aggressiveness or delinquent behaviour.
Having an alcoholic parent significantly increased the risk of early use of alcohol, the researchers added.
Those adolescents were also more likely to suffer subsequent alcohol problems, however, it did not increase the probability of illicit drug use.
“These findings are very important because we know that early drinking (at age 14 or earlier) is associated with a greater likelihood for alcohol abuse or dependence in adulthood,” said lead author Maria M. Wong, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of psychology at Idaho State University.
“If early childhood behaviours such as behavioural control and resiliency put individuals at risk for alcohol and drug use, then programs aimed at changing those behaviours at an early age may protect individuals from experimenting with drugs and alcohol later on.”The study was supported in part with grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
/Scenta news/14.07.2006/
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