Teens who smoke aren't always victims of peer pressure. New research shows a link between teen smoking and some parental characteristics.

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A study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health found that parents with lower incomes and educational levels are more likely than higher-paid, better-educated parents to have teenage children who smoke.

Dr. Elpidoforos Soteriades and Dr. Joseph DiFranza conducted a telephone survey of 1,308 adolescents in Massachusetts.

The researchers divided parents' incomes into four categories -- those earning $20,000 or under; $20,000 to 30,000; $30,000 to $50,000; and more than $50,000. Each drop on the income scale meant a 30 percent increased risk of smoking by the teenager.

Parental education levels were categorized as less than high school; high school diploma; some college; and college graduate. Each step down the parents' education ladder meant a 28 percent increase in the risk of adolescent smoking.

A third important contributing factor was whether the teen's parents smoked. Mothers set a particularly powerful example: Teens whose mothers smoked had an 85 percent increased risk of becoming smokers themselves.

The researchers said that the study indicates that smoking cessation programs tailored for adults with low incomes or educational levels may be one way of preventing their kids from smoking.

But they said research is needed to better understand the connection between low parental income and education and adolescent smoking.

"Without an understanding of why parental socioeconomic status so strongly predicts adolescent smoking," said Soteriades and DiFranza, "it is not clear how that knowledge can be used for prevention except to provide grounds for simply targeting low-socioeconomic status populations with general preventive measures."