Scottish children besiege Childline over parental drinking

New research reveals that a high number of calls to ChildLine from young people concerned about their parents harmful drinking come from children in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK.

The study carried out by ChildLine and SHAAP highlights children’s accounts of the severe negative impacts of harmful parental drinking on their lives including emotional stress, physical abuse and neglect.

Dr Evelyn Gillan, Director of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems and co-author of the study added: “We know that increased alcohol consumption in Scotland is driving an increase in health and social harm but what is often not acknowledged is the harm this causes to people other than the drinker.

“It’s likely that people drinking harmfully will negatively affect the lives of two other close family members. What this study shows is that many of those negatively affected by someone else’s drinking are children and the direct impact on their lives includes an increased risk of physical violence and abuse, severe emotional distress and neglect. What is particularly sad, is that many children experience a loss of childhood because they often take on caring responsibilities such as looking after brothers or sisters and this can prevent children doing normal childhood activities.”

Untold Damage - children’s accounts of living with harmful parental drinking - Wales, A; Gillan, E; 2009