Up Close and Personal: Critical Roles of Close Adolescent-Parent Relationships in Smoking Prevention

Objectives: This study examined the extent to which parents play a role in adolescent smoking intention, using the Social Development Model and Primary Socialization Theory as theoretical frameworks. Method: This study analyzed the 2001 Legacy Media Tracking Survey (LMTS-II), a nationally representative telephone survey. It analyzed non-smoking middle- and high-schoolers (N=4536). The dependent variable was a composite index of smoking intention. The major predictor was parental influence (parent smoking, closeness of parent-children relationship, home rule against smoking, and perceived parent smoking norm). A hierarchical regression model also controlled for the following variables: demographics (race, gender, age, academic aspiration, academic performance), psychological factors (sensation seeking, perceived risk and benefit of smoking), and both primary (peer smoking, school antismoking education) and secondary (smoking-related media exposure) social influences. Result: Both middle- and high schoolers who report a close relationship with their parents tend to have less intention to smoke. In addition, perceived parents' disapproval of smoking and home rules against smoking are significant predictors of smoking intention only among those who report a close relationship with their parent. Meanwhile, parental influence seems stronger for middle schoolers than for high schoolers, in that parents' smoking and perceived parents' disapproval of smoking independently predict smoking intention only among middle schoolers. Implications/Conclusion: Among parental influences, the closeness of the parent-child relationship appears to be important. Researchers should therefore examine more nuanced and diverse kinds of parental influences. Practitioners should design smoking prevention programs in more target-specific and age-specific ways.