The main aim of this project is to study the putative long-term effects of various forms of parental drinking patterns in regard to their children’s mental health, substance use and workforce non-participation
Background and motivation:
A fairly extensive literature shows that children whose parents suffer from alcohol use disorder (AUD) are at increased risk for various health and social problems, including substance use problems, mental health problems and unemployment. However, much less is known about how children are affected by parental alcohol consumption other than clinically diagnosed alcohol problems. This project addresses a poorly researched, yet important topic concerning the impact of more normative patterns of parental drinking on child long-term outcomes.
The primary aim is to investigate the putative long-term effects of parental drinking in regard to their children’s mental health, substance use and workforce non-participation using the combined survey and register data. We will take into account important factors such as parental mental health, gender and social inequality, while controlling for early adolescent problems (such as early substance use and/or mental health problems in children).
The project moves beyond the traditional approach of using a single data source, e.g. survey data alone or registry data alone to examine long-term health and social outcomes among children of parents in the general population with varying degrees of alcohol use and abuse. We combine existing survey data available for family triads (mothers, fathers - and children) with prospective nationwide registry data (available longitudinally for child health and social outcomes).
In sum, this general population longitudinal cohort design offers the unique opportunity to connect and analyze detailed information on parental drinking obtained from survey data with long-term child outcomes obtained from continuously updated nationwide registries.