Don't let your teenage kids see you drink
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Study shows when parents' drinking strongly influence children's own habits
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A study has found that the influence of parents’ drinking on their children does not steadily increase over time, but instead appears strongly during two specific periods.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia analyzed data from about 6,650 adolescents and their parents using the long-term Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey that spanned over 23 years. They tracked children’s drinking habits from age 15 into their late 30s.
According to the analysis, parental influence does not grow continuously as children age. Instead, it becomes clearly evident at two key stages: adolescence (ages 15–17) and when the child becomes a parent as an adult.
Ages 15–17: When teens closely observe parental behavior
During this period, adolescents still live with their parents, expand peer relationships and may begin experimenting with alcohol. At the same time, they closely observe how adults behave.
Teens with parents who drink heavily tend to drink more than peers. Those raised by moderate-drinking parents show similar patterns.
However, this similarity does not last long. As individuals move into their late teens and early 20s, the influence of friends, partners and coworkers grows stronger, gradually weakening parental influence.
When they become parents: Old habits resurface
In the late 20s to 30s, when many people become parents, the previously weakened parental influence reappears.
As people start families and think about what it means to be a “normal adult” or parent, they naturally refer back to how they were raised.
Drinking habits also tend to follow same-gender patterns: Daughters resemble mothers and sons resemble fathers.
However, mothers also influence sons to some extent, possibly due to their role in shaping everyday family routines and atmosphere.
Learned behavior, not genetics, matters more
The researchers also emphasized that these patterns cannot be explained by genetics alone.
Even in adoptive or remarried families without biological ties, children — especially daughters — still tend to resemble their mothers’ drinking habits.
This suggests that children learn behaviors through observation, social norms and modeling rather than heredity alone.
The study also found that once drinking habits are established, they tend to persist.
Most people maintain similar drinking patterns from early adulthood into middle age.
Individual choices can still vary widely
Rather than simply telling parents “never drink in front of your child,” researchers emphasize understanding when parental influence is strongest.
They also highlight policy implications, underscoring a need for education programs targeting both parents and teens and support systems for new parents to build healthy habits. These could influence not just one generation, but the next as well.
This article from Kormedi.com, Korea’s top health care and medical portal, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.