Parental alcohol-related disorders and school performance in 16 year olds - a national cohort study

• To study the links between parental alcohol-related disorders and offspring school performance and, specifically, whether associations vary by gender of parent or child and whether associations are mediated by other adverse psychosocial circumstances commonly appearing together with parental alcohol problems, such as parental mental health problems or criminal behaviour.Register study in a national cohort.SettingSweden.740 618 individuals born in Sweden in 1990-1996.Parental hospital admissions for alcohol-related disorders and school performance in their offspring, in the final year of compulsory school at age 15-16, was analysed in relation to sociodemographic confounders and psychosocial covariates, using linear and logistic regressions.Both mothers’ and fathers’ alcohol-related hospital admissions were associated with lower z-scores of grades and national mathematic tests scores. After adjustment for parental education and sociodemographic confounders, beta-coefficients of z-scores of grades were -0.42 (95% CI -0.45, -0.39) and -0.42 (95 % CI -0.43,-0.40), and beta-coefficients of mathematic tests scores were -0.36 (95% CI -0.39, -0.33) and -0.31 (95% CI -0.33, -0.29), for mothers’ and fathers’ alcohol-related disorders, respectively. Adjusted ORs for not being eligible for secondary school were 1.99 (95% CI 1.84-2.15) and 2.04 (95% CI 1.95-2.15) for mothers’ and fathers’ alcohol-related disorders, respectively. Adjusting the analyses for psychosocial factors in the family almost eradicated the statistical effects of parental alcohol-related disorders on offspring school performance to beta-coefficients of 0.03 to -0.10 and ORs of 0.89 to 1.15. The effect of a mother's alcohol-related hospital admission on school performance was stronger in girls than in boys, whereas no gender differences were seen for a father's alcohol-related hospital admission.ConclusionsIn Sweden, alcohol-related disorders in both mothers and fathers are associated with lower school performance in their children at age 15-16, with most of the statistical effects being attributed to psychosocial circumstances of the family, such as parental psychiatric disorders, drug use, and criminality and receipt of social or child welfare interventions.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Parental alcohol-related disorders

psychosocial factors

registry data

school performance

socio-economic factors

Sweden

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)