Drinking during holidays and special occasions could affect how you parent your kids

Getty Images Stock Photo by Bridget Freisthler, The Ohio State University How much alcohol do you typically drink in a week? A month? A year? Did your answer take into account how much you drink on New Year’s Eve? On Christmas? During the Super Bowl or World Cup? When researchers compare how much alcohol is sold to how much people say they drink, alcohol consumption is underestimated by anywhere from 30% in the U.S. to 80% in Australia. Special occasions such as holidays, weddings or major sporting events make up much of that difference. How much a person drinks at a special event can vary quite a bit, adding an extra four drinks per week for men and three drinks per week for women, and people usually don’t include these splurges in their tallies. My research team studies alcohol use and its effects on parenting, with an ultimate goal to identify strategies that support positive parenting. Particularly in the festive holiday season – filled with gatherings where drinking is commonplace – understanding how special-occasion drinking affects how parents treat their children could help people change their routines in ways that make these occasions more enjoyable for everyone. Whether to be...