Bloostelling aan alcohol door ouders: Argumentatie van Nederlandse kinderen tussen de vier en acht jaar

Abstract

Background: These days there are more and more children that drink alcohol on a young age, while there has been a frequently low amount of researches that research the effects of exposure to parental alcohol use. This study examined whether Dutch children between four and eight years give arguments in the attribution of alcoholic beverages in the eABT (i.e., electronic version of the Appropriate Beverage Task) regarding children’s exposure to parental alcohol use. The aim of this study was to find the relation between exposure to parental alcohol use and children’s argumentations about alcohol. This is examined on four levels (i.e., gender differences, age differences, differences in frequency and differences in intensity). Method: The data collection found place between the end of March and the beginning of May in the city of Utrecht. A combination was made of quantitative and qualitative research, also called a mixed-method. The qualitatively data from the children were conducted from the eABT and a semi-structured interview and the quantitative data were conducted from the questionnaires for the parents. Results: The results showed that age and gender differences affected the reasoning of children when they were exposed to parental alcohol use. However, this did not account for the frequency and intensity of parental alcohol use. It appears that, in relation to the exposure of parental alcohol use, older children are better able to discuss their choices than younger children and girls use more words in their argumentations than boys. This means that parental alcohol use has a probably high influence on the argumentations of children in relation to exposure of parental alcohol use.