A new study has found that high-quality family dinners are associated with lower substance use among many U.S. adolescents. The findings suggest that positive family interactions during meals may help reduce the likelihood of alcohol, cannabis, and e-cigarette use.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, analyzed survey data from more than 2,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 and their parents across the United States.
Researchers examined not how often families ate together, but how well those meals functioned. They focused on communication, enjoyment, emotional support, and the presence of distractions such as phones or television.
Adolescents also reported whether they had used alcohol, vaping products, or cannabis within the previous six months. Researchers then compared substance use patterns with what they called “family dinner quality.”
The results showed a clear protective association for teens who reported low or moderate exposure to adverse childhood experiences. For those adolescents, higher-quality family dinners were linked to lower rates of substance use. The effect remained after accounting for age, sex, and other demographic factors.
The study also examined the role of adverse childhood experiences, often referred to as ACEs. These include factors such as family violence, parental substance abuse, mental health problems in the household, bullying, or family instability.
For adolescents who reported four or more ACEs, the protective effect of family dinners was largely absent. High-quality meals did not consistently reduce substance use in this group. Researchers said this suggests that routine family practices alone may not be enough to counteract the effects of severe or chronic stress.
Lead author Margie Skeer, professor and chair of the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, said the results build on what was already known about family meals. She said, “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 added that meaningful connection matters more than the food or timing. “It’s not about the food, timing, or setting; it’s the parent-child relationship and interactions it helps cultivate that matter,” she said.
She noted that even simple routines can help. “Routinely connecting over meals — which can be as simple as a caregiver and child standing at a counter having a snack together — can help establish open and routine parent-child communication and parental monitoring to support more positive long-term outcomes for the majority of children,” Skeer said.
Skeer said teens with greater stress may need more than shared dinners alone. “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,” she said.
The findings add to a growing body of research showing that while family engagement can be an effective prevention strategy, it does not work equally for all adolescents. Public health efforts, the researchers said, may need to combine family-based approaches with trauma-informed interventions for higher-risk youth.