Family dinners may play a role in reducing alcohol use in teens. Drug and e-cigarette use.
A new study published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma suggests that sharing meals regularly as a family may help deter many adolescents from drug use, news agency SWNS reported.
Studies have shown it to be of higher quality. family meal Most teens were associated with lower rates of alcohol, marijuana, and e-cigarette use.
For people with more severe adverse childhood experiences, sharing a meal alone appears to offer little protection.
To arrive at these findings, researchers analyzed online survey data from 2,090 12- to 17-year-olds and their parents across the United States.
Participants were asked about the quality of their families’ meals, including communication, enjoyment, digital distractions, and logistical issues.
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Teens were also asked about their use of alcohol, e-cigarettes, and marijuana in the past six months.
SWNS explained that the researchers used reports from both parents and teens to examine whether family meals were more or less effective depending on the teens’ level of family stress and traumatic experiences.
Rather than treating all adverse experiences the same, the research team weighted each factor according to how strongly its association with drug use had been shown in previous studies.
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Among adolescents with low levels of childhood adversity, higher quality family meals It was associated with a 22% to 34% reduction in reported substance use.
The study’s lead author, Margie Skeer, a professor at Tufts University, told SWNS that the findings support the importance of daily life. family connections.
“These findings build on what we already know about the value of family meals as a practical and widely available method to reduce the risk of drug use among adolescents,” Skeer said.
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She said regular family meals help create opportunities for consistent communication and parental involvement, which may play a role in reducing risky behaviors over time.
However, this study found that family meals had limited benefits for adolescents whose adversity scores corresponded to four or more childhood adversity experiences.
“Our research shows that young people with more experience severe stress factors “While they may not receive the same benefits from family meals, they may benefit from more targeted, trauma-informed approaches, such as mental health support and alternative forms of family engagement,” Skeer said.
Potential limitations noted by the researchers include the study’s cross-sectional design, which means the findings cannot establish a causal relationship between family diet and drug use. Using online recruitment may also limit the extent to which results apply to all families.
