Family dinners may keep teenagers off drink and drugs, says new research

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

A new study published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma suggests that regularly sharing meals as a family may help discourage substance use among many adolescents, news agency SWNS reported.

The study found that higher-quality family meals were linked to lower rates of alcohol, cannabis and e-cigarette use for most teenagers.

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

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

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

Teenagers were also asked about their alcohol, vaping and cannabis use during the previous six months.

Researchers examined whether family meals were more or less effective depending on teenagers’ levels of household stress and traumatic experiences, using reports from both parents and teens, SWNS explained.

Rather than treating all adverse experiences the same, the team weighted each factor according to how strongly it has been linked to substance use in previous research.

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Among adolescents with lower levels of childhood adversity, higher-quality family meals were linked to a 22% to 34% reduction in reported substance use.

Margie Skeer, the study’s lead author and a professor at Tufts University, told SWNS that the findings reinforce the importance of routine family connection.

“These findings build on what we already knew about the value of family meals as a practical and widely accessible way to reduce the risk of adolescent substance use,” Skeer said.

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She said regular family meals can help create opportunities for consistent communication and parental involvement, which may play a role in reducing risky behaviors over time.

However, the study found that family meals offered limited benefit for adolescents whose adversity scores reached the equivalent of four or more adverse childhood experiences.

“While our research suggests that adolescents who have experienced more severe stressors may not see the same benefits from family meals, they may benefit from more targeted and trauma-informed approaches, such as mental health support and alternative forms of family engagement,” Skeer noted.

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Potential limitations the researchers noted include the study’s cross-sectional design, which means the findings cannot establish cause and effect between family meals and substance use. The use of online recruitment may also limit how broadly the results apply to all families.