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Smoking Parents More Likely to Influence Their Children to Nicotine Dependence

by Reshma Anand on Sep 19 2015 2:44 PM

Smoking Parents More Likely to Influence Their Children to Nicotine Dependence
Teenagers are much more likely to smoke and be dependent on nicotine if either of their parent smoke or is dependent on nicotine, says a new study. Daughters were especially vulnerable if their mother smoked.
Researchers from the Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute used data between 2004 and 2012 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The authors found that 13 percent of adolescents whose parent never smoked said they had ever smoked at least one cigarette. By comparison, 38 percent of teenagers whose parent was dependent on nicotine had smoked at least one cigarette. Among teenagers who had smoked at least one cigarette, five percent were dependent if their parent never smoked, but 15 percent were dependent if their parent was dependent.

Overall, teenagers had three times the odds of smoking at least one cigarette, and nearly twice the odds of nicotine dependence, if their parent was dependent on nicotine. Daughters were almost four times as likely to be dependent on nicotine when their mothers were dependent on nicotine but were not affected by fathers' nicotine dependence, the study found.

"Most smokers start smoking when they are teenagers. As this study shows, parents are a powerful influence. To prevent teens from starting to smoke and becoming addicted to tobacco, we need to do a better job of helping parents quit smoking," said Denise Kandel from Columbia University. The study appeared in the American Journal of Public Health.

Source-IANS


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