September 13, 2005 - For 10 years, CASA* has been conducting a back to school survey of the attitudes of teens and those, like parents, who most influence them. While other surveys seek to measure the extent of substance abuse in the population, the CASA back to school survey probes substance abuse risk and identifies factors that increase or diminish the likelihood that teens will smoke, drink or use illegal drugs. The tragedy of a child’s substance abuse can strike any family; there are no silver bullets, but one factor that does more to reduce teens’ substance abuse risk than almost any other is parental engagement, and one of the simplest and most effective ways for parents to be engaged in their teens’ lives is by having frequent family dinners.

This nation’s drug problem is all about kids. A child who gets through age 21 without smoking, abusing alcohol or using illegal drugs is virtually certain never to do so. The CASA survey and 12 years of my life devoted to understanding this problem lead me to this bottom line: America’s drug problem is not going to be solved in court rooms, legislative hearing rooms or classrooms, by judges, politicians or teachers. It will be solved in living rooms and dining rooms and across kitchen tables--by parents and families.

Family Dinners and Teen Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use

CASA research has consistently shown that the more often teens have dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. This report, The Importance of Family Dinners II, which draws from the results of CASA’s tenth annual back to school survey, finds that, compared to teens who have five or more family dinners per week, teens who have two or less are:

• three times likelier to try marijuana;
• two and a half times likelier to smoke cigarettes; and
• more than one and a half times likelier to drink alcohol.

Frequency of Family Dinners

This year, 58 percent of teens report having dinner with their family at least five times a week, a substantial increase in family dining from the 1998 CASA survey, when the relationship of frequent family dinners to substance abuse risk was first measured. That’s the good news. But the news could be a lot better:

• Overall, about one-quarter of teens and half of parents desire more frequent family dinners.
• About half of the teens and almost all of the parents who have fewer than three dinners with their families in a typical week would like to have more frequent family dinners.

Given the importance of frequent family dinners and the powerful impact parental engagement has in preventing teen substance abuse, families should identify and work to overcome the barriers to frequent family dining. Late work hours, after-school activities and long commutes all come at the expense of valuable family time.

Quality of Family Dinners

Our survey this year included a series of questions about the quality of family dinners, including whether the television is usually on or off during dinner, whether the family talks much during dinner, and whether family dinners last too long, about the right amount of time, or not long enough. The results paint a picture of the lower quality of infrequent family dinners. Compared to teens who have five or more family dinners per week, teens who have fewer than three are likelier to say that they dine with the television on, that their families talk little during dinner, and that their family dinners do not last long enough.

Strength of Family Relationships

Compared to teens who have fewer than three family dinners per week, teens who have five or more are likelier to experience lower levels of tension or stress among family members. They are also likelier to say their parents are very or fairly proud of them, and that they can go to one or both parents with a serious problem.

Those teens who live in households with these four characteristics--frequent family dinners (five to seven times in a typical week), low levels of tension or stress among family members, parents who are very or fairly proud of their teen, and a parent in whom the teen can confide--are at half the risk of the average teen for substance abuse.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank CASA’s Family Day media partner, TV Land and Nick at Nite, for sponsoring this report. In 2003, TV Land and Nick at Nite launched The Family Table: Share More than Meals, to remind their viewers about the emotional and social benefits that come from taking the time to sit down as a family and talk. TV Land and Nick at Nite’s President, Larry W. Jones, and Nickelodeon Networks’ Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, and Chief of Staff, Marva Smalls, understand that a revival of the family dinner in America will do more to curb kids from smoking, drinking and using drugs than any law or public health campaign.

*The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as "CASA") or any of its member organizations, or any other organizations with the name of "CASA".