Dec. 3, 2001 -- You're not fighting a losing battle when it com
Dec. 3, 2001 -- You're not fighting a losing battle when it comes to your kids and cigarettes, according to a new study. Researchers have found that turning up the pressure can actually do the trick -- even if you smoke.
Teen smoking has continued to climb and peer pressure is as strong as ever. But researchers at Dartmouth Medical School, in Hanover, N.H., have shown that parental pressure is an effective weapon in the fight against teen smoking.
The researchers performed three separate surveys over three years. Each time, about 700 kids from fourth to 11th grade were asked, "How do you think your mother (father) would react if you were smoking cigarettes and she (he) knew about it?"
A response of "S/he would tell me to stop and be very upset" was considered an indication of strong parental disapproval.
Close to 70% of the kids felt that both parents would disapprove of smoking. About 17% thought that neither parent would mind.
And good news for parents -- adolescents who felt that their parents would strongly disapprove were less than half as likely to smoke compared with kids who said their parents would not strongly disapprove.
The researchers also found that those adolescents who'd never smoked when the study began, and who perceived strong disapproval of smoking from both parents, were less than half as likely as other students to have taken up the habit by the end of the three-year study period.
And these results show that it's important to continue to let your kids know how you feel about smoking. When kids perceived their parents as becoming more lenient with time, they were significantly more likely to start smoking.
Even if you smoke, all hope is not lost for your kids. The researchers found that your disapproval of smoking could overcome the effect your habit might have on your kid's future smoking. The consequence of parental disapproval, in fact, was equally as strong among parents who smoked as among parents who didn't.
Your kids' peers won't give up their relentless efforts to get your adolescent to jump on the smoking bandwagon -- and neither should you. In fact, the researchers found that your strong disapproval gives your children more power to say no when their friends turn on the pressure.
"These findings contrast with the widespread notion that there is little parents can do to prevent their adolescents from becoming smokers," the researchers write.
