Young teenagers whose families allow them to drink alcohol may consume more down the track despite parent hopes to the contrary, a study has found.

Parents who allow their young teenagers alcohol in the hope it will help them to drink responsibly later on may be doing the opposite, a study has found.

Researchers from the the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found teenagers whose parents supply alcohol in early adolescence are three times more likely to drink full serves of alcohol at age 16, compared to those who abstain.

The study's chief investigator, Richard Mattick, says parents are confused about the best way to moderate their children's drinking.

But he says the study shows supplying booze doesn't work, with the biggest predictor for drinking alcohol in year 10 being early parental supply through school years 7 to 9.

"Parents are the major supplier of alcohol to the under 18s," Professor Mattick said.

"Many of these do so with the best of intentions, to introduce alcohol in a safe, supervised environment, with the aim of moderating a child's drinking."

Prof Mattick said adolescent drinking was linked to later harms in early adulthood including injury, sexually transmitted diseases and adult alcohol dependence, with changes in brain function reported by US researchers.

About one in six children in the study reported being given alcohol by their parents at age 12 and 13.

More than one-third of the study's sample were supplied with alcohol by their parents at age 15 and 16.

"The results also indicate that those children who are given alcohol by their parents may be more likely to seek out alcohol from a variety of other sources," said Dr Monika Wadolowski, who recently completed a PhD on aspects of the research.

The study, in which researchers followed nearly 2,000 parent and child pairs over four years, aimed to provide guidance to parents on how best to moderate their children's drinking.

Copyright AAP 2014