Parents Shouldn't Play Favorites (IMAGE) Brigham Young University Caption Professor Alex Jensen with his two daughters. His new study shows that in certain kinds of families, the perception that parents have a favorite is linked with the less-favored children being twice as likely to use alcohol, cigarettes or drugs. Credit Mark Philbrick/BYU Usage Restrictions Only for use in news coverage of the associated research License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.