Difficult childhood linked to teenage drinking

WASHINGTON - A new study has established a correlation between a difficult childhood and alcohol consumption as a teenager.

Researchers analysed the association between difficult childhood experiences and drunkenness among 9,189 adolescents aged 12-19 years living in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda.

“Overall, 9 percent of adolescents reported that they had been drunk in the 12 months preceding the survey,” the researchers said.

“In general, respondents who had lived in a food-insecure household, lived with a problem drinker, been physically abused, or been coerced into having sex were more likely to report drunkenness,” they added.

Study author Dr. Caroline Kabiru, from African Population and Health Research Center, said: “Early treatment for traumatic childhood experiences may be an essential component of interventions designed to prevent alcohol abuse among adolescents.”

The findings were published in the BioMed Central’s open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. (ANI)