Family dinners can reduce youth alcohol, drug use and vaping, research has found

Family dinners can play a role in reducing alcohol, drug and vaping use.

A new study published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma suggests that sharing meals regularly as a family may help prevent drug use among many young people, reports news agency SWNS.

Research has found that a healthy family diet is linked to lower levels of alcohol, marijuana and e-cigarette use among young adults.

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For those with more adverse childhood experiences, shared meals alone appeared to offer little protection.

To reach those findings, researchers analyzed online survey data from 2,090 youth ages 12 to 17 and their parents from across the United States.

Participants were asked about the quality of their family meals, including communication, entertainment, digital distractions and planning challenges.

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The youth were also asked about their use of alcohol, vaping and marijuana within the past six months.

The researchers examined whether family meals are more or less effective depending on the youth’s level of domestic stress and traumatic experiences, using reports from both parents and youth, SWNS explained.

The survey asked participants about the quality of the family’s diet and the youth’s use of alcohol, vaping and marijuana in the past six months. (Stock)

Rather than treating all negative experiences in the same way, the team rated each factor according to how well it has been linked to drug use in previous research.

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Among youth with low levels of childhood adversity, a high-quality family diet was linked to a 22% to 34% reduction in reported drug use.

Margie Skeer, lead author of the study and a professor at Tufts University, told SWNS that the findings reinforce the importance of regular family communication.

“These results build on what we already know about the value of family meals as an effective and widely accessible way to reduce the risk of youth drug use,” Skeer said.

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He said regular family meals can help create opportunities for consistent communication and parental involvement, which may contribute to reducing risky behavior over time.

Research has found lower drug use among youth with less childhood difficulties when family meals are supportive and engaging. (Stock)

However, the study found that family meals provided limited benefits for youth whose severity scores averaged four or more childhood adverse events.

“Although our research suggests that youth who have experienced high levels of stress may not see the same benefits from family nutrition, they may benefit from more targeted and trauma-informed approaches, such as mental health support and other forms of family involvement,” notes Skeer.

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Potential limitations noted by the researchers include the cross-sectional design of the study, meaning the findings cannot establish cause and effect between family diet and drug use. The use of online recruitment may also limit the generalizability of the results to all families.