God + 2 Parents = Non Smoker
by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D. & Althea Nagai, Ph.D.
Adults who frequently attended religious services as adolescents and grew up living with both biological parents are least likely to smoke.
According to the General Social Surveys (GSS), 31 percent of adults who attended religious services at least monthly and lived in an intact family through adolescence currently smoke, compared to 44 percent of those who attended religious services less than monthly and grew up in a non-intact family. In between were those who attended religious services at least monthly but lived in a non-intact family (42 percent) and those who grew up in an intact family but worshiped less than monthly (36 percent).[1]
Other Studies
Several other studies corroborate the direction of these findings. In a study of Australian twins, Arpana Agrawal of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues found that infrequent religious attendance correlated with frequent cigarette smoking and that "children separated from a biological parent were...more likely to report regular cigarette smoking as adults."[2]
Analyzing various degrees of smoking in adolescents, Stephen Soldz and Xingjia Cui of Health and Addictions Research reported that nonsmokers attended religious services most frequently, whereas early escalator smokers attended less frequently and continuous smokers least frequently. They also found that at the sixth grade in school, "quitters and experimenters were more likely to be living with both parents, whereas late escalators and continuous smokers were more likely to be living with a single parent or an extended family."[3]
Thomas Wills of Yeshiva University and colleagues also found that adolescents' religiosity was inversely correlated with tobacco use and that adolescents from intact families were less likely to use tobacco than those from blended and single-parent families.[4]
As the evidence demonstrates, frequent religious attendance and intact families are just what the surgeon general ordered.
Dr. Fagan is senior fellow and director of the Center for Family and Religion at Family Research Council. Dr. Nagai is a visiting fellow at Family Research Council.
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[1] This chart draws on data collected by the General Social Surveys, 1972-2006. From 1972 to 1993, the sample size averaged 1,500 each year. No GSS was conducted in 1979, 1981, or 1992. Since 1994, the GSS has been conducted only in even-numbered years and uses two samples per GSS that total approximately 3,000. In 2006, a third sample was added for a total sample size of 4,510.
[2] Arpana Agrawal, et al., "Correlates of Regular Cigarette Smoking in a Population-based Sample of Australian Twins," Addiction, vol. 100 (2005): 1,709-1,719.
[3] Stephen Soldz and Xingjia Cui, "Pathways through Adolescent Smoking: A 7-Year Longitudinal Grouping Analysis," Health Psychology, vol. 21 (2002): 495-504.
[4] Thomas Ashby Wills, et al., "Buffering Effect of Religiosity for Adolescent Substance Use," Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, vol. 17 (2003): 24-31.
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However, means absolutely nothing factual, and is certainly of no base-point for a life structure. For me growing up, God+2 Parents = Smoking 2 packs a day and beginning in the sixth grade. When did I quit and why? I quit once I was finally out on my own and did not have god 's eyes or my fathers hands to preach at me through hypocrisy. The reason was simply because it felt like crap. I didn't enjoy it anymore. The longer I have stayed away from it, the more I am happy with my decision and can now base it on my own ethical reasons. I can assure that for me, god and 2 parents had the opposite affect.
Interesting that this piece defines "2-parent family" as "2-biological-parent family." I wonder if that is the definition in the original study.
I'd be curious to see how kids who were adopted at birth and raised consistently by both adoptive parents in an intact home, as well as attending religious services weekly during adolescence, measure up against the kids raised by both bio parents. My suspicion would be that they would compare quite favorably.
The article says biological parents, but when they quote the study, the study says "intact family". Also look at the chart. when you compare church to non-church the numbers aren't statistically significant. All the study proves is that two parents are better then one.
As has often proven to be the case with the FRC (and others of the same ideological inclination) are have an read these articles through an ideological filter, allowing them to read support for their causes where there is none.
We all do this to an extent, and can only avoid it through a great deal of effort... but the level to which the FRC and the IFI descend is blatant and intellectually dishonest.
I suspect, actually, that the function is one of having an "intact," 2-parent home (original family, not blended with step-parent), whatever the biological or adoptive relationship of the parents to the child, in combination with both parents being non-smokers. The fact that the family attends church would be of statistical significance only because many churches discourage their members from smoking . Therefore, a family which attends church regularly is less likely to include one or both parents as smokers.
I suspect that we would see the exact same results in a study of families with two stable parents from birth/infant adoption , both of whom are committed non-smokers, whether due to religious, health , or other beliefs. Claiming that it has anything specific to do with the religious beliefs, themselves, or to do with biological relationship between parents and child is rather disingenuous, I think.
The GSS does not speak to if that person is even still a follower of their parents religion , but it does indicate a lack of higher education proportional to religion propagating through generations.
Anyway, the 13 percent difference is more than covered in the margin of people dishonest about their beliefs in the face of a large, self-righteous, judgemental majority.
Seriously, "God + 2 Parents" is likely to produce a more trusting, and more conforming, individual on average. That would explain a drastic decline over the years, as smoking was much more acceptable the farther back one goes in the last century.
At any rate, even a direct correlation between this demographic origin and not smoking is not a reason to take up religious belief, or try to change your domestic situation. So what's the point?
"God + 2 Parents" can produce a better and desiring individual.In fact,if both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a child whose parents are both non-smokers.
stopsmoking!
----stopsmokinghabits