The research team examined data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, which records health data for thousands of children born between 2000 and 2002. Among the goals of the study is to collect information on fathers' involvement in children's care and development. After a first survey of the children at 9 months old, surveys collected information for each child at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11 years old.
Overall, the researchers examined the records of nearly 11,000 children. Of these thousands of children, more than a quarter had experienced the absence of a biological parent by age 7.

في الإجمال فحص الباحثون سجلات 11000 طفل ومن هذا المجموع وجد ان حوالي ربع الاطفال قد اختبروا مسالة غياب الاب قبل سن السابعة

During their age-11 survey, the children were asked whether they had ever smoked cigarettes or drunk alcohol. Those who had tried booze also answered whether they'd had enough to feel drunk

How today's teens are putting themselves at risk
كيف يضع شباب هذه الايام انفسهم في اوضاع خطرة :

The results to the smoking question would soothe the nerves of most parents: The overwhelming majority of preteens said they had not smoked. However, 11-year-old boys were more likely than girls to have tried cigarettes: 3.6% versus 1.9%.
لقد اراحت نتائج السؤال حول تدخين الاطفال المراهقين اعصاب معظم الوالدين : وقد اظهرت النتائج ان اغلبية الاطفال من العمر اقل من عشر سنوات انهم لم يدخنوا. لكن الاطفال الذكور من سن ظ،ظ، سنة اظهروا نيل الى التدخين اكثر من الإناث من نفس ألسن وكانت النسبة 3.6% ذكور مقابل 1.9% اناث.

Drinking was much more common among the 11-year-olds. Here again, the boys
outnumbered the girls, with one in seven boys reporting that they'd tried alcohol, compared with one in 10 of the girls. Of the preteens who tried drinking, nearly twice as many boys (12%) said they'd had enough to feel drunk, compared with slightly less than 7% of the girls.
لكن الدراسة اظهرت بان شرب الخمر عند الاطفال من سن الحادية عشره كان اكثر شيوعا. وتبين ان الذكور من هذه الشريحة كانوا أكثير من الإناث من نفس السن طبعا. حيث اقر واحد من كل سبع ألاطفال الذكور انه شرب الخمر لكن النسبة عند الإناث كانت واحدة من كل عشره. وقد اعترف ظ،ظ¢ظھ من الذكور الذين جربوا شرب الخمر بانهم شربوا كمية اشعرتهم بانهم سكرو، بينما اعترفت نسبة ظ§ظھ فقط من الإناث بفس الشيء وهي نسبة مضاعفة عند الذكور الاطفال تقريبا.

Lacey and her colleagues calculated that preteens who had experienced parental absence before the age of 7 were more than twice as likely to have taken up smoking and 46% more likely to have started drinking

Overall, Lacey and her colleagues believe that a range of factors -- including less parental supervision and unhealthy coping mechanisms on the part of the kids -- may contribute to the association between parental absence and risk behaviors

Other adults can make a difference
Though it's "exciting," Prinstein noted that the study had one weakness in that the researchers could not control for factors such as parental depression or physical illness. As a result, no one can say whether a parent's absence was the cause of a child's risky behavior or whether other factors, such as a parent's depression, might have played a more direct role.

studies have limitations, of course, so this is not to suggest this (research) is not an important contribution," he said, adding that previous research suggests parental neglect can be a factor leading to risky behavior in children. Though the study focuses on children in the UK, Prinstein also believes the results "might not be culturally bound" and so probably apply

"
Father figures in your corner
Still, Prinstein cautions against misinterpreting the results since past studies revealed that "aunts, uncles, grandparents, coaches, members of the neighborhood community can serve a very important role for kids."
أشخاص يمكن ان يخدموا كبديل مناسب للآب
لكن برنستاين حذر من سوء تفسير النتائج لان الدراسات السابقة كشفت بان العمات والأعمام والأجداد والجدات ومدربي الرياضة وأناس من الحارة المحيطة يمكن ان يلعبوا دورا مهما للأطفال.

Someone who is not in the "formal role of a parent" can still have a "dramatic" and positive influence in the life of a child, he said, and they may even help a child resist peers who have begun to experiment with substances.
ويضيف برنستاين
هناك بعض الاشخاص الذين لا يلعبون دور الاب الرسمي لكن يمكنهم لعب دور دراماتيكي وإيجابي
بالنسبة للطفل، حتى انه يمكنهم مساعدة الطفل في مقاومة اقرانه من الاطفال الذين انخرطوا في السلوك الخطر مثل الدخان وشرب الخمر .


Prinstein concluded, "I would hate for anyone to feel stigmatized that what they're providing for a child is not OK if they are offering that child access to other adults, like grandparents and aunts and uncles -- because we know that is very helpful."