Addiction: Teens More Likely To Smoke If Their Parents Do, Too

Monkey see, monkey do, as they say.

New findings published in the American Journal of Public Health reveal that teenagers are more likely to pick up smoking if their parents also participate in the unhealthy habit.

Researchers at Columbia University discovered that up to 13 percent of adolescents whose parents had never smoked before said they had smoked at least one cigarette. Yet when compared to teens with a parent dependent on cigarettes, 38 percent had smoked at least one cigarette.

In this recent study, researchers analyzed data from 35,000 parent-adolescent pairs and analyzed their responses regarding the smoking status and nicotine dependence of parents and adolescents. They collected additional data, including parent and adolescent perceived risk of smoking, depression, adolescent use of alcohol and other drugs. The perceptions of the quality of parenting, including parental monitoring, level of support and instances of conflict were also factored in.

For teens who smoked at least one cigarette, up to 5 percent were dependent even if their parent had never smoked. Yet 15 percent of those had smoked one cigarette with a dependent parent were dependent, themselves. In fact, teens were three times as likely to smoke at least one cigarette if their parent was dependent on nicotine, the study authors said.

Smoking can increase the risk of numerous health issues, including heart disease, stroke, lung disease, cancer and other different problems, according to the American Heart Association. Yet it remains the most preventable cause of death in the United States. 

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