ALCOHOL-INTOXICATION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL PROBLEMS AMONG CHILDREN

A drunken child is a common sight in the streets during weekends in Finland. An early episode of drunkenness may be an early sign of a serious tendency, or it may be an isolated incident. In this study 300 alcohol intoxications treated in hospital were examined. The underlying risk factors of the patients, their motives for drinking and their symptoms and signs were recorded. Underlying family problems were usual; in 45% of the cases the family was broken, in 36% the family had visited child guidance clinics, and in 31% of the families one parent was an alcoholic. The lower the mother's social group was, the higher the frequency of alcohol intoxication. Previous intoxications were reported in 9% of the cases. Most of the children's intoxications were experimental (49%); suicidal cases amounted to 8% and cases in which the child had been forced to drink amounted to 6%, and the rest of the patients belonged to the problem group and the mixed‐motives group. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved