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Adolescents' smoking behaviors linked to those of parents

Adolescents are more likely to smoke if their parents are current or former smokers, according to study results.

“Reducing parental smoking would reduce adolescent smoking,” Denise B. Kandel, PhD, of the department of psychiatry at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “Prevention efforts should encourage parental smoking cessation, improve parenting, address adolescent mental health and reinforce adolescents' negative beliefs about smoking.”

Kandel and colleagues used data from the 2004 to 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to assess the association between parents’ smoking behaviors and the likelihood that their children would smoke and become nicotine dependent.

The researchers identified 35,000 parent–child groups. Adolescents in the study were aged between 12 years and 17 years.

The investigators observed a strong association between parents who were currently dependent on smoking and adolescent lifetime smoking (adjusted OR = 2.96; 95% CI, 2.47-3.55). Results revealed weaker associations for lifetime smoking among adolescents whose parents smoked but were not dependent (aOR = 2.26; 95% CI, 1.92-2.67) and among those whose parents were former smokers (aOR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.31-1.75).

Parental nicotine dependence also was associated with adolescent nicotine dependence (aOR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1–2.74). Other factors that predicted adolescent smoking included mental health, perception of schoolmates’ smoking, beliefs about smoking and other substance use. Neither race nor ethnicity appeared to be associated with adolescents’ smoking behaviors.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.