Research from Otago University has found ''positive parenting" can prevent alcohol abuse in adulthood

Academics looked at data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study - the world renowned longitudinal research that's followed the lives of more than a thousand people since 1977.

Psychological medicine professor Joe Boden says his team examined symptoms of alcohol disorder in adulthood.

He says kids who had more positive parenting, are much less likely to develop an alcohol use disorder - than those who had been exposed to less positive parenting.