Kids whose parents admitted their own drug use were less likely to exhibit anti-drug behavior, while parents who did not discuss their own drug use, but delivered a strong anti-drug message, were more likely to exhibit anti-drug attitudes.
The new research was published the latest edition of Human Communication Research.
The study looked at 253 Latino and 308 European American students from the sixth through eighth grades. The students reported on the conversations that they have had with their parents about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.
Past research had showed teens would be less likely to use drugs if their parents discussed their own drug use, but this study showed the opposite.
"Parents may want to reconsider whether they should talk to their kids about times when they used substances in the past and not volunteer such information," said Jennifer Kam, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Of course, it is important to remember this study is one of the first to examine the associations between parents' references to their own past substance use and their adolescent children's subsequent perceptions and behaviors."