Two
recently released studies show the importance of parental
involvement in keeping teens from using illicit drugs, alcohol
and tobacco.
The 2004
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), released in
September by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, shows a small but steady decline in illicit
drug and tobacco use by youth aged 12 to 17.
Teens
who reported that their parents “always” or “sometimes”
engaged in monitoring behaviors—such as praising their
achievements, limiting time away from home or in front of
the television on school nights, assigning household chores,
and checking or helping with homework—were half as likely
to use drugs, alcohol or cigarettes as youth whose parents
"seldom" or "never" engaged in such behaviors.
| Teens
whose families eat dinner together at least five times
a week are significantly less likely to use illicit drugs,
alcohol or tobacco. |
The NSDUH
shows that in 2004, 60.3 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 reported
that they had talked at least once in the past year with
at least one of their parents about the dangers of drug,tobacco
or alcohol use;
|
|
an
increase from the 2003 rate of 58.9 percent and the 2002 rate
of 58.1 percent.
The National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia
University reported that teens whose families eat dinner together
at least five times a week are considerably less likely to
use illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco. The National Survey
of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse X: Teen and Parents
showed that teens whose families eat dinner together less
often than twice a week are three times more likely to try
marijuana; two and a half times more likely to smoke cigarettes,
and more than one and a half times more likely to drink alcohol.
The study
was conducted by TV Land & Nick at Nite’s Family
Table: Share More Than Meals, a program created by the two
cable television networks in 2003 to remind viewers about
the emotional and social benefits to families spending time
together.
This year,
58 percent of teens report having dinner with their families
at least five times a week, a substantial increase from the
47 percent of teens having five or more family dinners in
a typical week in 1998, when CASA first measured the relationship
between family dinners and teen substance abuse risk.
Findings
of the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health are available
at www.oas.samhsa.gov. Results of CASA’s National Survey
of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse X: Teen and Parents
are available at www.casacolumbia.org. |
