FAMILY CONNECTEDNESS
National research is showing the interconnectedness of risk behaviors such as smoking, drug use and teen sex. For example, once a teen starts smoking, he or she is much more likely to experiment in other dangerous behaviors. Congress asked the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to develop a longitudinal study on teen health that would specifically address the behaviors that promote adolescent health or that put health at risk. This is the first national study that measures the environments of teenagers and how they are impacted by particular social settings. One of the major discoveries by the study is how critical the home environment is in shaping health outcomes. When teens feel connected, (Webster calls in a
"bond" or "link") to their families and when parents are involved in their children's lives, teens are protected against emotional stress, violence, drug use and sexual involvement. Here is a list of key issues that work as protective factors for teens:
- Parents being present at key times during the day (morning, after school, dinner, bedtime)
- Teen satisfaction with parental relationships (feeling loved, wanted and paid attention to)
- Participating in family activities
- No access to guns in the home
- No access to cigarettes, alcohol or illegal drugs in the home
- Parental disapproval of adolescent sex
- Actively involved in school
- High parental expectations for education
Unfortunately, sexual activity does not occur in a vacuum. Other risk behaviors are often connected to teen sexual activity. Non-virginal boys and girls are significantly more likely than their virginal cohorts to engage in other activities considered risky. For example, non-virginal boys were at nearly four times the risk of virginal boys for smoking cigarettes,
six times greater risk for ever having used alcohol and nearly 10 times greater risk for having ridden with a drug-using driver. Girls who are not virgins were
seven times more likely to smoke and 10 times more likely to use marijuana. Non-virginal girls are even at a higher risk for suicide. Here are
important other dangerous behaviors to think about:
- Alcohol use
- Drug use
- A steady boyfriend or girlfriend
- Dating someone older
- No parental monitoring
- Having parents who think adolescent sex is acceptable
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