Daily HealthBeat Tip

What parents do right

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

If Mom or Dad tries to help a teen-ager choose friends, what do you think would happen?

Well, a researcher at the Ohio State University says the teen might pick well-behaved friends � who, for instance, don't fight and do plan on college.

Chris Knoester (kuh-NOO-stur) looked at a database on teens, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. He presented his findings at an American Sociological Association meeting.

"Adolescents who had high-quality relationships with their parents, who lived in neighborhoods that their parents chose because of their good schools, who have parents who know their friends and their friends' parents almost across the board are more likely to have friends with more pro-social qualities and fewer deviant qualities." (17 seconds)

Teens might still pick friends who get them into trouble. But Knoester says good parenting makes it less likely.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October 17, 2005

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