ABSTRACT
When children are asked about the consequences of drinking alcoholic beverages, they invariably refer to the acute effects of intoxication and, in particular, the state of being drunk. Moreover, very rarely do they qualify drunkenness in terms of quantity of alcohol consumed (Casswell et al., 1983). However, although children appear to be familiar with the verbal label ‘drunk’ from an early stage, it does not necessarily follow that they have a full grasp of the concept of drunkenness, i.e. that they are familiar with the repertoire of the possible social and behavioural implications of alcohol consumption.
