There are conflicting reports about the influence of parents drinking in front of children such as here, here and here.
For instance, the link from Drinkaware website below states that drinking moderately in front of your kids is a case of leading by example and therefore acceptable.
Yes, research shows that from a young age children learn about acceptable behaviour by observing and copying their parents, so when it comes to drinking, it really is a case of leading by example. What they see at home helps children think about how they’ll drink alcohol as an adult. So, just as children learn to walk and talk like their parents, they learn how to drink like them too. Source: Is it OK to drink in front of my children?.
The same Drinkaware website also suggests to hide your consumption in front of children.
“But, equally, parents should hide their own alcohol consumption from their kids. Setting a good example and demonstrating a moderate approach to drinking, while communicating the harmful effects of alcohol on children, is a good approach to alcohol education. Source: Does my drinking affect my child?
However, National Health service of UK warns that parents need to drink less in company of their kids as there is a connection between three factors of parental drinking, parenting style and the likelihood of children growing up to be alcoholics.
The report found that mothers who drank ‘always’ were more likely to have children who drank at hazardous levels in adulthood. The report found that 16-year-olds who perceived their mother to drink ‘always’ were 1.7 times more likely to drink hazardously themselves at the age of 34 than those who reported their mothers drank ‘sometimes’. The father’s drinking behaviour did not have any association with children’s later drinking levels. Source: Parents 'need to drink less' in front of their kids
Young people’s drinking behaviour is no exception and often emulates that of their parents, i.e., if adults drink more, so too do their children. Source: Influencing your child’s alcohol consumption.
So does parents drinking alcohol in front of children influence the child's behavior to become a future alcoholic and also is this assumption dependent on the amount and times of alcohol consumption in their presence?