Teens Do Listen to Parents
About Smoking, Drinking
Excerpt By Keith Mulvihill, Reuter's Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to popular belief, many teens and young adolescents look to parents for guidance about smoking, drinking and doing drugs, according to a new study that gauged teens' acceptance of parental authority.

"The typical parent-child relationship involves an imbalance of power--parents have more skills, more knowledge, more experience, more resources than children--and they appropriately have most of the power," said Dr. Christine Jackson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"This power differential allows parents to control many aspects of their children's lives," the researcher added. "But as children approach adolescence, the playing field begins to even out. Eventually, adolescents must decide whether and when they will accept parental authority."

Teens are said to "legitimize" parental authority if they agree that parents should have a say about issues like education, career choices, dating relationships, driving, or drug and alcohol use, explained Jackson.

In her investigation, Jackson interviewed 1,220 middle school students about a variety of aspects relating to parenting style and how they view parental authority. The findings are published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The researcher found that 80% of young adolescents in this study think their parents should have a say about whether they smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.

"This finding discredits the notion that adolescents uniformly reject parental influence," Jackson told Reuters Health.

"Adolescents don't want parents to tell them how to dress or what kind of music to listen to--but they do want and need parental involvement in many other aspects of their lives, including (alcohol and tobacco use)."

In addition, this study also compared teens who rejected parental authority about smoking and drinking versus teens who were receptive to parental authority about use of these substances.

"Teens who rejected parental authority about smoking were 400% more likely to smoke and teens who rejected parental authority about alcohol use were 380% more likely to report current drinking than peers who were receptive to parental influence on these issues," said Jackson.

"In brief, being receptive to parental influence means being less likely to use tobacco and alcohol," she added.

The big question now is why do some teens accept parental authority while other teens reject it?

This study found that one answer is parenting style. The teens of parents who used ineffective parenting practices were seven times more likely to reject parental authority regarding substance use than teens whose parents followed recommended parenting practices, explained Jackson.

Parents should keep in mind that "effective parenting skills are the best tool parents have for keeping their children from smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol," said Jackman. "The style of parenting that 'works' is one that combines strong, firm discipline with a high level of warmth and attention."

Jackson pointed out that many previous studies have shown parents who stick with this balanced style of parenting throughout the childhood years get a big "pay-off" in the long-term. "Their teens won't agree with every request or follow every rule, but they will trust and respect their parents," she said.

"This trust and respect is the key to sustained parental influence, including parental influence about smoking and drinking," Jackson concluded.

SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health 2002;31:425-432.

Reference Source 89

For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".