Alcoholism: What Are The Causes?
A new study, soon to be published in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, suggests that there is a long-reaching correlation between problems of irregular sleep in childhood and alcoholism and drug abuse in adulthood. Maria Wong, associate professor in the department of psychology at Idaho State University, conducted the survey. Dr. Wong stated that children between the ages of three and five who reported trouble sleeping became adolescents between the ages of eleven and seventeen who reported trouble sleeping, who in turn became young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one who had drug problems and nascent alcoholism.
Dr. Wong called the findings “a chicken and the egg” kind of conundrum. There is a positive association between sleep deprivation in childhood and alcoholism and dependency on drugs in adulthood, but there is as yet no ready answer as to which one comes first. Certainly, Dr. Wong noted, these sleep issues may actually precede substance abuse problems. About one in ten young children complain of sleep problems, or are believed by their parents to have such problems, and according to Dr. Wong, these numbers are increasing.
When children are regularly overtired at such young ages, this predicts lower response inhibition in adolescence, which means that these overtired children grow into adolescents and young adults who have trouble inhibiting destructive impulses and behavior. This of course predicts higher incidence of binge drinking and experimentation with addictive drugs, which in turn leads to full-blown addiction and alcoholism. Problems sleeping can translate into a lifetime of problems.
Therefore, proper and regular sleep is important, and this must be monitored from an early age. When sleep disturbances are identified, early intervention should be applied. Parents and pediatricians must be made aware of the connection, and be educated on the proper treatments and therapies that can intervene and protect the child – not just in their youth, but for their eventual future. Additionally, treatment programs might want to take a look at the childhood roots of alcoholism and addiction. Perhaps these new findings might have a bearing on the treatment of alcoholism and addiction in adulthood.
Dr. Wong’s article, “Childhood Sleep Problems, Response Inhibition, and Alcohol and Drug Outcomes in Adolescence and Young Adulthood,” will be published in the June 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
