Does smoking pass down from generation to generation to yet a third generation? Yes, according to researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health, but only if the second generation smokes. This is one of the few published studies to look at smoking behavior across three generations. Results were published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Dr. Elizabeth Vandewater, associate professor in the division of health promotion and behavioral science, and Dr. Anna Wilkinson, assistant professor in the division of epidemiology, human genetics, and environmental science, examined three generations of the U.S. population from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to determine if behaviors are passed down and examine the magnitude of the influence of smoking behaviors across generations.