An African study found a link between a difficult childhood and alcohol consumption in adolescence, reports EurekAlert.
In the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, researchers report that they studied the relationship between childhood adverse conditions and alcoholism among 9 people. 189 young people aged 12-19 living in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda.
The research was led by Dr. Caroline Kabiru and a team of scientists from the African Population and Health Research Center in Nairobi, Kenya. They reported that 9 percent of adolescents said they had become drunk in the 12 months prior to the study. Studies have shown that people who grew up in homes with a lack of food, lived with an alcoholic, were physically abused or forced into sexual intercourse were more prone to alcohol.
A similar study has already been prepared in Africa on factors influencing alcohol consumption among youth from sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers worked on a similar study elsewhere in the world that also links difficult childhood experiences with alcohol problems in the future.
Early treatment of childhood traumatic experiences could be an important element in preventing the alcohol problem among adolescents, said Dr Kabiru. (PAP)