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A study from Africa has found a link between difficult childhood experiences and alcohol consumption in adolescence.

• Caroline Kabiru and her colleagues from the African Population and Health Research Center studied 9,189 children ages 12 to 19 years old.
• The researchers asked the children whether they had been drunk in the past year.
• The 9% of participants who said they had been intoxicated were more likely to live with a problem drinker, to have been physically abused or coerced into having sex, and to dwell in households where food was scarce.
• These results are similar to other studies in other parts of the world.

The study appeared in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.
 

Labels: alcohol abuse, family

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

Rachel’s bags were packed. The 14-year-old went to her mom and said she couldn’t live like this anymore. Her mom was so busy helping her dad deal with his alcoholism that Rachel felt like she had been abandoned; she was ready to leave home. But, Rachel and her mom talked, and Rachel jumped at the chance to attend Ala-Teen meetings.

“’Rachel’ said AlaTeen has helped her to gain an understanding of alcoholism, the disease. She was told, like cancer, it is an illness. But she struggled with that for a while. ‘Cancer isn’t something someone does to themselves. It’s not something they can control. Alcoholism is different. You do that to yourself.’ But she did come to terms with it. Alcoholism is a disease. And though she still is angry with her dad, she understands better and has a better attitude.” - Source: The Salem (OH) News

More importantly, Rachel doesn’t feel like she’s alone anymore. She now has the support of an entire group of people who are dealing with similar situations. Addicts need help. But so do their family members. The emotional and psychological toll of living with an addict is significant, and family members need support in order to deal with it properly.

Labels: addiction, treatment, family

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 2 Comments