You might think there's nothing wrong with allowing your teenager the occasional glass of wine or a shandy.
But in your efforts to encourage sensible drinking and honesty, you could be unwittingly setting your child on a path to alcoholism.
The earlier a teenager gets drunk for the first time in their life, the more likely they are to become a binge drinker - or even an alcoholic - a new study has found.
In contrast, teenagers who delay getting drunk for the first time are more likely to turn out to be sensible drinkers, according to U.S. researchers.
The study is the first to establish a link between the age when people first start drinking and how quickly they progress to getting drunk.
Previous Canadian research has found drinking a small glass of wine or beer at the age of 14 can help a young teenager along the path to binge drinking.
The findings revealed early experiences of alcohol is one of a wide range of factors that can be used to identify future binge drinkers.
The latest research found both the age at which a teenager drinks their first drink and the age at which they first get drunk, could be used to identify future problem drinkers.
Experts said interventions are needed to stop teens becoming problem drinkers.
They suggested targeting those who are already drinking but may have yet to get drunk.
And they advised trying to delay the age at which teenagers experience their first alcoholic drink.
The study involved 295 female and male teenage drinkers with an average age of 16
They were asked about their drinking and how often they binge drink, which was defined as drinking five or more drinks on a single occasion.
They found that starting to use alcohol at an early age and quickly progressing to the point of getting drunk are related to underage alcohol use and binge drinking.
Meghan Morean, assistant professor of psychology at Oberlin College, Ohio, in the U.S. said: 'Our research suggests that teenagers who have their first drink at an early age drink more heavily, on average, than those who start drinking later on.
'Our work also suggests that how quickly teenagers move from having their first drink to getting drunk for the first time is an important piece of the puzzle.
'In total, having your first drink at a young age and quickly moving to drinking to the point of getting drunk are associated with underage alcohol use and binge drinking, which we defined as five or more drinks on an occasion in this study.
'To summarise, we would expect a teenager who had his first drink at age 14, and who got drunk at 15, to be a heavier drinker than a teenager who had his first drink at age 14, and waited to get drunk until age 18.'
William Corbin, associate professor of psychology at Arizona State University, said the research could help design interventions to stop underage problem drinking.
'Efforts to distinguish between age of first alcohol use and progression to first heavy use as risk factors for heavy drinking have important implications for prevention efforts.
'If age of any use is the primary risk factor, our efforts should be primarily focused on preventing initiation of any use.
'If, however, age of first intoxication - or delay from first use to first intoxication - is a unique risk factor above and beyond age of first use, prevention efforts should also target those who have already begun drinking in an effort to prevent the transition to heavy drinking.
'The key finding here is that both age of first use and delay from first use to first intoxication serve as risk factors for heavy drinking in adolescence.'
The study was published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

參考譯文：
有些家長會出于“善意”鼓勵自己的小孩喝一點酒，認為這沒什么大不了。但是，他們可能在不知不覺中給自己的孩子鋪就了一條通往酗酒的道路。

一項針對十幾歲青少年的新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，第一次喝酒的年齡越早，他們未來越有可能成為一個狂飲者， 甚至是酗酒者。相比之下，青少年首次喝酒開始的年齡越晚則約有可能成為一名理性的飲酒者。

此前來自加拿大的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在14歲時開始第一次喝酒，哪怕是一小杯葡萄酒或啤酒，都更有可能引導孩子走向酗酒之路。

來自美國俄亥俄州奧伯林學院的研究者，對295名平均年齡為16歲青少年首次飲酒的年齡，與其后發(fā)展為酗酒之間的關聯(lián)性進行了研究，結果揭示喝酒的早期經驗可能是以后進展為狂飲的因素之一。

專家表示，需要采取干預措施以阻止青少年成為酗酒者。他們建議干預對象應該主要針對那些已經開始飲酒但是還沒有沉迷的青少年，通過勸誡來延遲青少年首次飲酒的年齡。

目前，在世界范圍內未成年人飲酒十分普遍。據(jù)英國2012年的一項調查，11至15歲所有青少年中有43％表示他們至少曾經喝過一次酒。 隨著年齡的增長，曾有過喝酒體驗的人比例快速上升，從11歲組的12%到15歲時急速升高到的74％。

這項研究提醒人們，由于你的一時的興致，或者鼓勵孩子勇敢的善意，可能不經意間“培養(yǎng)”了你的孩子酗酒的不健康生活方式，應該高度警惕。

原始來源：http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2766732/The-earlier-start-drinking-likely-develop-alcoholism-later-life-study-finds.html