Bonus Benefits to Quitting Smoking

New research has found that smokers who quit may have greater success in addressing mental health or addiction issues. Based on surveys from 35,000 people, researchers found that people who quit smoking were 33% less likely to have mood disorders, 36% less likely to have alcohol problems and 69% less likely have drug problems than…

Does Parent-monitored Drinking Help Adolescents?

A study of 449 college-bound female high school seniors who were not allowed by their parents to drink alcohol at all engaged in less binge drinking while in college compared to those who were allowed to drink at home with friends. The authors suggest that parental drinking permissiviveness and later binge drinking is heavily influenced…

Age of First Drink Influences Alcohol Dependence

A fascinating study has investigated the relationship of alcohol dependence to the age of first drinking among 2691 twins living in Australia. In both males and females it was found that the earlier they started drinking, the more likely they were to become dependent on alcohol (41.1% of males who started before the age of…

Parental Approval of Drinking Increases Teen Alcohol Use

Dutch researchers examined whether parent-monitored drinking as well as drinking with best friends slowed the usual increase in alcohol consumption and binge drinking patterns in adolescents as they grew older. The authors conclude, “Our findings suggest that parents who do not want their children to develop heavy drinking patterns later on should prohibit alcohol use of…

Early Exposure to Alcohol Increases Risk

Have you ever heard that teaching kids how to use alcohol at an early age is a good idea. Beware: more than 40 percent of those who begin drinking at age 14 or younger develop alcohol dependence, compared with 10 percent of those who begin drinking at age 20 or older. PositiveTip: Don’t consider allowing…