- Professor Kelly Musick and her colleagues studied 2000 families involved in the National Survey of Families and Households in the United States.
- The children in the study were ages 10 to 18 years old when the study began, and in their early 30s when the study ended.
- Dr. Musick found that teens who live in "high-conflict" households were at higher risks for smoking, poor school performance, binge drinking, substance abuse, and becoming unwed teenage parents.
- They were also more likely to be depressed.
"It's important for couples to understand that it's not good enough just to stay together for the sake of the kids," she said. Teenagers with argumentative parents are no better off in certain ways than are children in single-mother homes or those who live with their mothers and stepfathers.
Posted By: Aspen/CRC