Teen Drinkers Mimic Parents

Parents' drinking habits can influence those of their children, but perhaps not how you might think, a study suggests. While kids are apt to mimic boozing elders, more than one action speaks louder than words: The lax monitoring and harsh punishment that go hand in hand with alcohol abuse can also drive teenagers to the bottle, Reuters reports.

It's the first in-depth description of what one researcher calls parents' "multifaceted influence on the drinking behaviors" of children, but the results indicate a catch-22: Keep a watchful eye on your kids—just don't discipline too hard if you don’t like what you find. The best bet for parents with drinking problems, one researcher says, might simply be to get help. (More alcohol stories.)