London: Fathers, who talked with their kids often, reduced the risk of their child's experimentation with smoking in early adolescence, research shows.
James White from Cardiff University's School of Medicine undertook a three-year-study, involving about 3,500 11-15 year-olds, as part of the British Youth Panel Survey -- a self report study of children in the British Household Panel survey.
White said: "The study suggests that a greater awareness of parents' and especially fathers' potential impact upon their teenagers' choices about whether to smoke or not is needed."
The children were asked about the frequency of parental communication, arguments with family members and the frequency of family meals.
The frequency of family arguments and family meals did not have a significant effect.
After three years, the responses of children who had remained non-smokers were compared to those who said they had experimented with smoking at some point, says a Cardiff release.
Recognised risk factors for smoking, such as age, participant sex, household income, parental monitoring and parental smoking, were all taken into account during analysis of the study's findings.
White presented his findings to the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference on Thursday.
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