"Just make sure you can get up and parent the next day": Understanding the contexts, risks, and rewards of alcohol consumption for parents

Are Social Vulnerability and Family Social Support Associated with Children's Psychiatric Symptoms?

Social influence can shape early childhood at different levels. We explored the association between social vulnerability and lifetime caregiver alcohol use with children's psychiatric symptoms. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the association between child psychiatric symptoms and social vulnerability among 1275 preschool child-caregiver pairs with lifetime caregiver alcohol used as a control variable. Of the children, 15.78% (95% CI 15.17-16.42) had internalizing symptoms, 2.49% (95% CI 2.19-2.83) had externalizing symptoms, and 9.36% (95% CI 8.88-9.86) had internalizing/externalizing symptoms. High social vulnerability was positively correlated with internalizing (aRRR 1.54; 95% CI 1.41-1.68) and internalizing/externalizing symptoms (aRRR 1.77; 95% CI 1.58-2.00). Low family support was strongly associated with internalizing/externalizing symptoms (aRRR 2.60; 95% CI 2.20-3.10). Lifetime caregiver alcohol use was positively correlated with all three psychiatric symptoms (aRRR 1.33; 95% CI 1.18-1.51; aRRR 1.13; 95% CI 1.06-1.59; and aRRR 1.26; 95% CI 1.12-1.42). Their association with children's mental health outcomes calls for social policy changes at the macrosystem level.

Using ecological momentary assessments to understand how drinking during special occasions relates to parenting behaviors

BACKGROUND

Drinking on special occasions (e.g., Super Bowl, Christmas) often results in more alcohol consumed. Further, police often report higher levels of crime, such as assaults and domestic violence, on days of major sporting events (e.g., Super Bowl, World Cup). Yet, drinking behaviors of parents during special occasions or large sporting events have not been assessed for their effects on parenting behaviors. Here, we assess the relationship between drinking during the Super Bowl and on Valentine's Day to determine whether they differ.

METHODS

Participants, recruited from social media, completed a 40-min baseline survey and 14 days of three daily Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs) about parenting. Two hundred fifty-five participants (with 684 EMAs) were enrolled on the Super Bowl and 184 (492 EMAs) were enrolled on Valentine's day. Measures of parenting include aggressive, punitive, and nonpunitive discipline and positive techniques. Drinking was assessed on days 7 and 14 of the EMA and corresponded to the EMA time frame during the previous week. Participants were largely White, well-educated mothers. Data were analyzed using multilevel logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Parents who reported drinking on the day of the Super Bowl were more likely to use aggressive discipline (OR = 2.560; 95% CI: 1.308, 5.150) and punitive parenting (OR = 2.701; 95% CI: 1.394, 5.257) during the time that drinking occurred. In contrast, parents who reported drinking on Valentine's Day were less likely to use aggressive discipline (OR = 0.197; 95% CI: 0.077, 0.502).

CONCLUSIONS

The differential relationship between drinking and parenting measures could be the result of differing norms or differences in who is present during the special occasions studied here. Identifying and understanding how alcohol use on special occasions contributes to parenting could help to create environments that are most conducive to positive parenting behaviors and reduce harms related to harsh or aggressive parenting.

Assessing the effects of the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project (SNAPP) on child abuse and neglect

BACKGROUND

The role of alcohol use in the etiology of abusive and neglectful parenting is significant. We examined how the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project (SNAPP) may have reduced rates of substantiated child maltreatment, entries into foster care, and entries into foster care where alcohol use was a factor.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The study sample is 326 Census block groups: 21 and 16 in the South and North intervention areas, respectively, and 289 in the At-Large comparison area in Sacramento, California.

METHODS

SNAPP used a quasi-experimental design to reduce alcohol supply and alcohol-related problems among 15-29 year olds in two economically, racially, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. The dependent variables are substantiated child abuse and neglect; total foster care entries; and alcohol-related foster care entries.

RESULTS

Substantiated child abuse and neglect was inconclusive for both intervention areas. In the North, total (RR = 0.822, 95 % CI [0.721, 0.933]) and alcohol-related (RR = 0.760, 95 % CI [0.634, 0.914]) foster care entries decreased by 17.8 % and 24.0 %, respectively. Intervention effects in the South were not well-supported for foster care entries (RR = 1.118, 95 % CI [0.988, 1.258]), but increased alcohol-related foster care entries (RR = 1.264, 95 % CI [1.075, 1.484]).

CONCLUSIONS

Environmental intervention strategies may be effective at reducing child abuse and neglect. However, given the mixed findings from our work, we need to identify under what conditions these interventions work best and whether some components of these strategies (e.g. awareness vs. enforcement of underage sales) differentially affect child abuse and neglect.

Sequencing drinking events and use of punitive, nonpunitive, and positive parenting behaviors with ecological momentary assessment

BACKGROUND

The relationship between alcohol use and parenting is primarily predicated on use of both past year drinking and parenting behaviors, making it difficult to develop prevention and intervention efforts that target alcohol-related maltreatment. Here, we assess the sequencing of parenting behaviors in relation to alcohol use (e.g., whether punitive parenting and alcohol use occur simultaneously).

METHODS

Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, a convenience sample of parents was asked to take three brief surveys daily (at 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.) for 14 days. If the parent was with the focal child, they were asked to identify whether they had used one of six randomly assigned parenting behaviors (punitive, nonpunitive, or positive). Alcohol use was queried at the 9 p.m. survey on days 7 and 14. Logistic multilevel models were used to analyze the data.

FINDINGS

Parents reported less nonpunitive parenting during the time in which they reported drinking, and less positive parenting behaviors on the morning after the drinking occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents may be less attentive to children's behavior while drinking, or they may be less inclined to find that behavior needing correction. Drinking may reduce the likelihood of positive parenting the next day if parents are feeling hungover or have negative aftereffects from drinking. These parents may want to explicitly have another adult provide caregiving duties during the drinking event or plan drinking when it is less likely to cause the least amount of harm (e.g., when children are in bed).

Parents' management of alcohol in the context of discourses of 'competent' parenting: A qualitative analysis

How parents manage potential tensions between normative discourses of 'competent parenting' and their desires to consume alcohol has received little attention. In this article, we explore the elements that encourage or constrain parents' drinking and investigate how parents consider and manage their alcohol use in the context of multiple social roles with sometimes conflicting demands and expectations around 'competent parenting'. Our analysis draws on 30 semi-structured interviews with Australian parents, conducted as part of a broader project which aimed to explore how home drinking is integrated into everyday life. While parents' accounts of drinking alcohol highlighted effects such as embodied experiences of relaxation and facilitating shared adult moments, many participants described drinking less than they otherwise would if their children were not present. Participants discussed various social roles and routines which constrained consumption, with drinking bounded by responsibility. As such, drinking emerged as something needing to be actively negotiated, particularly in light of discourses that frame expectations of what constitutes 'competent parenting'. When considering parents' alcohol consumption in the future, we argue that it is important to destigmatise their consumption by acknowledging the importance of adults' pleasure and wellbeing, alongside children's needs for safety and modelling of safer alcohol consumption.

Double shifts, double trouble: Alcohol as a problematic panacea for working mothers

Alcohol consumption among midlife women has become an area of research focus. We suggest it is important to examine the social roles that many midlife women take on - specifically working mothers. Working mothers balance both employment and the unequal burden of caring/domestic duties, leading to 'double shifts' of paid and unpaid labor. This creates unique stresses that may impact their drinking. This is particularly important as a growing number of mothers re-enter the workforce after childbirth. In this commentary, we suggest that working mothers' drinking tends to be overlooked or even endorsed as a means of managing the gendered stresses they face - stresses which have been exacerbated during the pandemic. We highlight the dearth of literature focusing on the drinking patterns, practices, and motives of working mothers and argue that gendered expectations placed on working mothers may be an increasingly important social determinant of health among this group.

Financial Literacy and Alcohol Drinking Behavior: Evidence from Japan

Alcohol consumption is an important public health issue in Japan due to its association with numerous side effects. Recent studies find that financial literacy helps people abstain from risky health behaviors such as smoking, lack of exercise, and gambling. This study investigates how financial literacy, as a rational decision-making instrument, is associated with alcohol consumption behavior in Japan. Using data from the Preference Parameter Study (PPS) of Osaka University, we categorize respondents into daily drinkers and non-daily drinkers. We find that financial literacy is not significantly associated with alcohol consumption among Japanese people. We argue that the prevailing social belief that alcohol consumption is not entirely negative from the health perspective and can be beneficial for socialization to some extent overrides people’s rationality and plays a significant role in alcohol consumption decisions. However, our study provides evidence that respondents who are males, middle-aged, have children, have higher household income, have smoking habits, and place more importance on the future are more likely to be daily drinkers. We argue that the availability and easy access to alcohol drinking opportunities likely make people irrational and tempts them to drink frequently. Thus, authorities might consider revising current policies regarding alcohol availability and accessibility to limit alcohol consumption.

Negotiating identities of 'responsible drinking': Exploring accounts of alcohol consumption of working mothers in their early parenting period

Mothers' alcohol consumption has often been portrayed as problematic: firstly, because of the effects of alcohol on the foetus, and secondly, because of the association between motherhood and morality. Refracted through the disciplinary lens of public health, mothers' alcohol consumption has been the target of numerous messages and discourses designed to monitor and regulate women's bodies and reproductive health. This study explores how mothers negotiated this dilemmatic terrain, drawing on accounts of drinking practices of women in paid work in the early parenting period living in Northern England in 2017-2018. Almost all of the participants reported alcohol abstention during pregnancy and the postpartum period and referred to low-risk drinking practices. A feature of their accounts was appearing knowledgeable and familiar with public health messages, with participants often deploying 'othering', and linguistic expressions seen in public health advice. Here, we conceptualise these as Assumed Shared Alcohol Narratives (ASANs). ASANs, we argue, allowed participants to present themselves as morally legitimate parents and drinkers, with a strong awareness of risk discourses which protected the self from potential attacks of irresponsible behaviour. As such, these narratives can be viewed as neoliberal narratives, contributing to the shaping of highly responsible and self-regulating subjectivities.

Engaging with motherhood and parenthood: A commentary on the social science drugs literature

The majority of qualitative social scientific research on the topic of parenthood and substance use focuses on mothers who use illicit drugs and their experiences of social marginalization and stigmatization. This commentary argues that new and important insights might be gained about parenting in the context of substance use by engaging more closely with everyday experiences of mothering and with contemporary theorising around motherhood and parenthood. Drawing on recent sociological studies of family life influenced by late-modern individualism and by new expert attention on the quality of parent-child relationships, the commentary proposes directions for future social research on the identities and experiences of mothers and fathers who use alcohol and other drugs.

Perceptions of problem-drinker patients' family members about their own hazardous-drinking behaviours in Chinese general hospitals: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Excessive alcohol use has been associated with health, social and legal problems. Alcohol-related problems have been studied primarily in problem-drinker patients, with few studies on their family members, particularly about their own hazardous or harmful alcohol-drinking behaviours.

METHOD

In this qualitative descriptive study, participants were recruited from three hospitals randomly selected from northern and central Taiwan (2:1). Hazardous-drinker patients and their family members were screened using the Chinese version Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (scores ≥8 indicate harmful or hazardous drinkers). Data were collected in individual, audiotaped, in-depth interviews using an interview guide. Verbatim interview transcripts were analysed using ATLAS.ti, version WIN 7.0.

RESULTS

The sample of 35 family members with hazardous or harmful drinking behaviours perceived that their own alcohol-drinking behaviours were related to six major patterns: family habits, leisure activities with friends, work pressures, personal taste, a way to forget one's problems and to express happiness.

CONCLUSION

We recommend that programmes targeting harmful or hazardous drinking among problem-drinker patients' family members should educate participants about the standard amounts of alcohol in alcoholic beverages, recommended amounts of alcohol consumption for males and females, the long-term effects of excessive alcohol consumption; address sources of risk factors at work; offer strategies to resist social pressures to drink; and build positive strategies for coping with stress.