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When parent starts smoking affects child

Posted on: Monday, 24 November 2008, 00:08 CST

Teens are more apt to smoke if their parents began smoking at an early age and continued to smoke at high levels, U.S. researchers found.

The study, published in the journal Health Psychology, draws from the long-running Indiana University Smoking Survey and builds on previous research that suggests smoking behavior is influenced by both genetics and environment.

This particular study focuses more on the genetic influence in the specific case of a parent's smoking behavior impacting a teenage son or daughter's smoking, Jon Macy, project director of the Indiana University Smoking Survey, said in a statement. The study findings suggest that the characteristics of early onset and high levels of long-term smoking are great candidates for behavioral and molecular genetic studies of the causes of smoking and how smoking behavior is passed from one generation to the next.

However, environmental influences on adolescents -- such as parenting practices, availability of cigarettes in the home, and parents' attitudes about smoking -- are equally as important and can be addressed with effective public health interventions, including family-based smoking prevention programs, Macy said.

The Indiana University Smoking Survey is a 28-year longitudinal study -- the longest running study of its kind. Researchers began collecting data in 1980 from middle and high school students in Monroe County, Ind.

Source: United Press International

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