MindComet

Nurture v Nurture

There is a theory by researchers at the University of Arizona that says smoking while pregnant “biologically primes” the unborn child to become a regular smoker as a teen and young adult.  For the study, the team used data from the Tucson Children’s Respiratory Study to see whether a mother’s smoking during pregnancy and during her child’s early years affected whether the child smoked later on.  What they found was this; women who smoked during pregnancy and during their child’s early years were more likely to have kids who smoked at age 22. This proved true whether the mother smoked or did not smoke during the child’s school years.

Now this is all very interesting, but does not reflect my experience.  My sister and I were born a year apart from each other in 1969/1970.  Our mother was a smoker before, during, and after the births of both my sister and I.  We do not and have never been smokers.  My theory is that the Univ of Arizona theory is applicable to Millennials only and no other generational cohort.  One of the core philosophies of GenXers (which is what my sister and I are) is to be the opposite of what our parents were… If they were smokers, we weren’t.  If they were over-achieving Gordon Gekkos, we were “slackers”.  This is more of an argument of Nurture vs Nurture.  The socio-economic setting in which Gen Xers grew-up formed their worldviews and sense of distrust.  While being exposed to a smoking mother would also fall into the Nurture category, I’ve got to say my experience is that generation pressures define whether I was a smoker or not.  So, University of Arizona theory, I disagree with you.  Take that!

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Jul. 06, 2009