Alcoholkennis van Nederlandse kinderen van vier tot en met acht jaar oud

Abstract

Aim. The aim of this study is to investigate the alcohol knowledge of Dutch children from four to eight years old by four categories: age, sex, parental alcohol use and media use by children. Design. In a sample of 52 families, parents (n = 82; 54,9% female) completed online questionnaires and children (n = 66; M = 6,05; SD = 1,17; 53,0% female) completed the electronic Appropriate Beverage Task (eABT) and were interviewed with a semi-structured interview with open-questions. Findings. Results of qualitative analysis showed that children from six to eight years old could name more examples of alcoholic beverages and give a better definition of alcohol than children of four and five years old. A sex difference for alcohol knowledge was found for the capability to give examples of alcoholic beverages, which is that girls showed more diversity when they gave good examples. Quantitative analyses showed that both frequency and intensity of maternal alcohol use was positively correlated with the knowledge about the definition of alcohol by children. Besides, intensity of paternal alcohol use was positively correlated with the ability to give right examples of alcoholic beverages by children. There were no significant correlations between television use by children and their alcohol knowledge. Conclusions. This mixed methods study is one of the first to examine the alcohol knowledge by young children instead of adolescents. Results showed that alcohol knowledge is more enhanced in six to eight year old children than in four and five year old Dutch children.