Parents with drinking problems put children at risk

Children with parents who have drinking problems are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety and anger, a new report from Turning Point suggests.

The health and social care organisation warns that early screening is needed to identify these families and stop the cycle that undermines children’s chances at school and in getting jobs.

The report estimates that 2.6 million children live with hazardous drinkers, and the average alcohol consumption of these parents was 30 units per day. Almost a quarter of 1,000 people surveyed admitted that they had been drunk in front of their children.

Turning Point’s director of substance misuse services, John Mallalieu, said: “In a climate where both services for treatment and for troubled families are being streamlined, it makes sense that alcohol services should be given the impetus to prioritise parents, or soon-to-be parents, into treatment. They should be helped to develop parental and coping skills so the problems they are experiencing with alcohol are not passed on to their children.

“Early intervention is key in preventing a new generation of children at risk of experiencing poor mental health, drug and alcohol addictions, truancy and worse. We must end the intergenerational cycle that their alcohol misusing parents are leading them into by example. Where resources for action are scarce, it makes economic sense to integrate family and parenting specialists into existing treatment services to protect future generations from harm, and the need to access the specialist services their parents currently require.”

Darren Woodward, regional manager for Turning Point substance misuse services, said alcohol misuse within the family is an escalating and systemic problem within families.

He continued: “We need to make sure parents have the right support to deal with their drinking at the earliest possible stage. At the moment, the amount of information and support for families is inadequate.”