Children who see their parents drunk are twice as likely to regularly get drunk themselves, a survey of young teenagers has suggested.
Poor parental supervision also raises the likelihood of teenage drinking, said the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The Ipsos MORI survey found the behaviour of friends is also a powerful factor in predicting drinking habits.
The more time teenagers spend with friends, the more likely they are to drink alcohol, it suggested.
In a survey of 5,700 children aged 13 to 16, carried out for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, researchers found one in five claimed to have been drunk by the time they were 14.
By the age of 16, half of those questioned said they had been drunk.
Parents key to children’s drinking
Children who regularly see their parents drink are twice as likely to binge on alcohol themselves, according to a survey.
Youths who are left unsupervised are also more likely to drink, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report found.
Researchers for Ipsos Mori questioned 5,700 teenagers in England, and found one in four 13-14-year-olds have been drunk more than once, compared to just over half of children (52 per cent) who are 15-16.
Those who said they had seen their parents inebriated were twice as likely to have been drunk several times. Read more: