Family and school influences on alcohol purchasing in childhood

Objectives Early-onset alcohol involvement is adverse to health and the identification of factors accounting for alcohol accessibility is critical to intervention. With a focus on the occurrence of buying alcohol alone, the aims of this study are to investigate the effects of school- and family-characteristics on alcohol purchase in childhood and to compare possible developmental variation in such links.

Methods On the basis of the 2006-2007 Alcohol-Related Experiences among Children project (AREC), we identified a total of 1304 4th and 1324 6th graders enrolled in 28 public elementary schools in Taipei. Information about family background and individual drinking experiences was collected via paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaires and school characteristics were assessed via archived administrative data. Multilevel analyses were performed to estimate the strength of associations with stratification by grade.

Results The prevalence of alcohol purchase by unaccompanied minors ranges from 10.5% in 4th graders to 13.1% in 6th graders. Having not attended afterschool program increases the risk of purchasing alcohol alone in both graders (aOR=2.3), whereas having observed elder siblings' drinking was only significant in 6th graders (aOR=2.0). School neighboring environment seems play a role in shaping the chance to buy alcoholic beverages, including a higher density of mass transportation (aOR=1.7~1.9).

Conclusions The effects of family and school environment on alcohol purchase in childhood seem salient and different by development stages. Prevention programs on underage alcohol problems may be tailored according to family and school characteristics and law enforcement against selling alcohol to minors should be strictly enforced to reduce accessibility.