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 If you want to keep your teenagers from smoking cigarettes and drinking booze, look to your oldest child for help.A study from the University of Washington and Australia's University of Queensland suggests that older siblings serve as powerful role models, exerting far greater influence on the younger ones' behavior than parents or even friends. Of course, this is a double-edged sword. If the older kid is good and stays away from alcohol and cigarettes, the younger ones are more likely to follow his example. The opposite is also true. Wild older siblings can influence their little brothers and sisters by example to also lead a rowdy life, reports Internet Broadcasting Systems of the study of 1,370 Australian teenagers and their mothers, including 685 sibling pairs who were one to three years apart in age. The teens were asked whether they had used alcohol and tobacco and if so, how often. Here are the eye-opening statistics: Smoking: Just 10 percent of younger siblings whose older siblings don't smoke used tobacco themselves, while 40 percent of those whose older siblings smoked also smoked themselves. Drinking: When older brothers and sisters reported drinking, alcohol use among younger sibs increased from 25 percent to 53 percent. Teens also copy their parents' behavior, but to a lesser degree than they copy the actions of their older siblings. Lead study author Dr. Abigail Fagan actually advises parents to ask older sibs to actively discourage their younger brothers and sisters from smoking and drinking, since the message they speak carries more weight. "The results underscore the need to include siblings, or at least address issues relating to sibling relationships and influences, in prevention efforts," she wrote in the American Journal of Drug Issues. |
