There is a growing concern about the effects of smoking on the health and wellbeing of an individual. Much attention has been on the factors leading to early exposure of children to tobacco. One striking issue that seems to attract widespread attention across disciplines is parental influence. Most researchers agree that parents determine the smoking habits and behaviors of a child. According to studies, early exposure to cigarettes leads to increased usage by adolescents, contributing to the current interest in adolescent smoking's parental influence. This paper presents a report on the impact of parents on teenage smoking. Te study relies on primary and secondary data to determine if parents have any role in their children 's smoking behavior.
The current study hypothesized that parents' behavior does not influence their children's attitudes toward smoking. The alternate hypothesis argued that parents' behavior affects the attitude of their children towards tobacco. The independent variable, in this case, is parental behavior, whereas the independent variable is adolescent attitudes towards smoking. The current study used primary data from 30 participants to test the hypothesis and conclude the effects of parental behavior on adolescents' smokers. The secondary data was obtained from peer-reviewed articles and supported the assertion that adolescent attitudes towards smoking are affected by different factors, including parental behavior.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Literature Review
A detailed review of past studies showed that parents play an integral role in their children's smoking attitudes. A literature review by Mulvihill (2014) showed that social support networks operating under the social learning theory affected adolescents' behavior. According to the author, adolescents mimic their parents' or peers' behavior, affecting their attitudes towards smoking. The article shows that parents are highly influential in the early stages of their children. Schulz (2014) presents similar arguments pointing out that the social context, including parents and peers, affects adolescents' attitudes towards smoking. The author argues that injunctive and descriptive norms influence the attitudes of adolescents towards substance use. The article states that adolescents are unlikely to smoke if they feel that their parents or peers disapprove of such acts. A different study by Scalici and Schulz (2017) supports the argument that parents and peers play a significant role in adolescents' attitudes towards smoking. According to the authors, adolescents' interactions with different people, including their parents and peers, determine their behavior and attitude toward smoking. They state that exposure to the norms in the social environment determines their perception of smoking.
Parents' approval or disapproval of adolescents' intention and smoking declines with age, meaning that peers have more influence at later stages, whereas parents determine attitudes at earlier stages (Scalici $ Schulz, 2017). The authors concluded that parents and peers play a critical role in adolescents' attitudes toward smoking. Gilman et al. (2009) and Kuntz and Lampert (2016) support the same viewpoints arguing that adolescents whose parents smoke have a higher likelihood of doing the same compared to those from parents who do not smoke. They point out that a parent’s smoking trajectory influence the smoking attitudes of a child. Their study pointed out that a child living with a persistent smoker has high risks of smoking. Mulvhill (2014) holds similar views and opines that parental smoking behavior influences adolescents' smoking transition. The author further states that other factors of parent-adolescent relationships affect their smoking behavior. Some of the components highlighted in the study include time spent with family, family connectedness, parent-adolescent relationship, and infrequent engagement.
Exposure to parental smoking leads to the transmission of the vice from one generation to another. According to Alves et al. (2016), various reasons contribute to such transmission. Key among them include contradictory messages where smoking parents claim that such acts are detrimental to health, parental support like easing access to tobacco by adolescents, and role modeling where adolescents or children imitate their parents. Other contributors include traits like nicotine or drug response and addiction profiles. Myers et al. (2018) argue that there are contradicting results on smoking around children. According to the authors, studies indicate that most parents believe that adult smoking around children could harm them. In contrast, smoking parents feel that exposing children to tobacco smoke does not damage them. Such variations arise from the way parents understand the effect of tobacco exposure. Some believe that exposure occurs when smoke can be smelled or seen, whereas others have a broader perception. On the other hand, Kuntz and Lampert (2016) noted that social norms and environmental factors affect the smoking behavior of parents leading to children's exposure at home.
Methodology
The researcher selected forty participants using multi-stage sampling. The researcher selected 17 girls and 13 boys aged between 12-16 years old. The sample was selected from students from a high school in the neighborhood. The participants completed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire on parental smoking behavior and their attitude towards smoking. Some of the questions required the students to state if one or both parents was a cigarette smoker. The researcher collected the filled questionnaires and ensured the confidentiality of the information by not disclosing any data to the participants. The participants consented to the study and informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time.
Thirty participants completed 40 multiple choice questions that included six on smoking, eight on parental behavior, and five on their attitude. One of the questions asked the participants if they currently smoke or they have ever done so. Another inquired if their parent was a smoker. The answers to these questions led to the next, depending on the responses that each participant gave. The responses were used in the analysis, where the researcher developed a correlation matrix. The results were highly correlated, and the researcher selected the question, "do you feel that your parent's behavior affected your attitude towards smoking? Similarly, the researcher tried to determine the level of tender loving care that respondents receive from their parents. Additionally, there was a question on contradictory information and the belief that parents had towards smoking.
The study measured the effects of parental behavior on the attitude of participants towards smoking. The researcher measured perceived parent approval, parent smoking, and their consumption of tobacco. The question of whether either or both parents smoked was recorded using dummy variables 0 and 1. In contrast, if respondents said they did not smoke, the researcher recorded it as 0 or 1 if they currently or previously smoked. The frequency of their smoking was recorded on a five-point scale. The researcher further categorized the data into non-smokers, light and heavy smokers depending on the number of cigarettes per day. Lastly, the researcher uses the grade level of each participant as a representative of their age.
Data analysis involved a series of steps where the researcher performed random checks to determine the reported data's consistency and any missing information. The study compared each respondent's characteristics using the Chi-Square analysis to estimate the differences in the selected variables. The researcher measured the critical values using a 5% level of significance. If the value is lower than 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected since it is not true, and the alternate took. Similarly, the researcher performed parametric tests by measuring quantitative data and its frequency. Lastly, the study compared parental smoking behavior with adolescent attitudes using multivariable logistic models.
Results
Thirty participants accurately completed the questionnaire, whereas the other ten either withdrew midway or failed to answer all questions or gave contradictory information. The study shows statistically significant differences between adolescents from families with smoking parents and those from non-smokers. Similarly, there were differences between male and female adolescents on their attitudes towards smoking. Demographic data was as follows; six participants were 12 years old, four were 13, 7 were 14, five were 15, five were 16 ad three were older. All respondents showed that one or both parents had a college education. 70% reported that their parents were 40 years and below.
Participants who smoked said that one of their parents smoked in their vicinity. 40% of the smokers said their parents gave contradicting information like saying smoking is harmful to health, yet they were active smokers. 60% of parent smokers who had completed college were unlikely to smoke in the vicinity of their children. The age of the participant did not affect the smoking pattern of their parents. The researcher measured and obtained a critical value of 0.02, which is lower than 0.05. The outcome shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and, instead, the alternate hypothesis that parental behavior towards smoking affects adolescent attitude towards smoking.
Discussion
The current study reported data on parental smoking behavior, especially in the vicinity of their children, and giving contradictory information on the effects of the practice on a smoker's health. Similarly, the study showed that parents who have completed college are likely to avoid smoking in their children's vicinity or give contradictory information. Again, the research shows that adolescents' attitude towards tobacco depends on the behavior of their parents. There is a strong relationship between the behavior of smoking parents and their likelihood to do so in their children's presence. The current study presents similar results like those done by other researchers (Alves et al., 2016; Kuntz a& Lampert, 2016; Myers et al., 2018). Exposure to tobacco is a serious issue since it has detrimental effects on the health of an adolescent. The mater is further complicated because children have no choice if their parents smoke in their vicinity.
The current study is highly reliable and valid across disciplines as researchers try to understand the effect of parental behavior on adolescent smokers' attitudes. The findings are relevant to different states and countries, given the adverse or detrimental health effects of cigarette smoking. Similarly, the study has significant implications on policy issues, parenting styles, and future research works. Parents should avoid giving contradictory information or smoking in the vicinity of their children. Researchers can narrow the study to focus on a single state or other social, environmental factors. There are limitations in the current research like the question of whether parents smoke or not. Similarly, the question of whether the respondent smokes can lead to misleading results if they fail to give truthful information. Likewise, some of the respondents gave misleading information like when they started smoking, making it challenging to determine intergenerational transmission.
Summary and Conclusion
The current study examined parental smoking behavior and its effects on the attitudes of adolescent smokers. The researcher engaged forty respondents who answered multiple-choice questions to understand issues like parents giving contradictory information and their likelihood to smoke in their children's vicinity. Thirty respondents accurately filled the questionnaire, and the researcher performed data analysis, including performing Chi-Square tests to determine if the null hypothesis should be accepted or not. The researcher obtained a critical value of 0.02 using a confidence interval of 95%, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis and acceptance of the alternate, which argues that parental behavior towards smoking affects adolescent cigarette smokers' attitudes.
References
Alves, J., Perelman, J., Soto-Rojas, V., Richter, M., Rimpelä, A., & Loureiro, I. et al. (2016). The role of parental smoking on adolescent smoking and its social patterning: a cross-sectional survey in six European cities. Journal Of Public Health , fdw040. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdw040
Gilman, S., Rende, R., Boergers, J., Abrams, D., Buka, S., & Clark, M. et al. (2009). Parental Smoking and Adolescent Smoking Initiation: An Intergenerational Perspective on Tobacco Control. PEDIATRICS , 123 (2), e274-e281. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-2251
Kuntz, B., & Lampert, T. (2016). Social disparities in parental smoking and young children’s exposure to secondhand smoke at home: a time-trend analysis of repeated cross-sectional data from the German KiGGS study between 2003-2006 and 2009-2012. BMC Public Health , 16 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3175-x
Mulvihill, C. (2014). Parental and Peer Influences on Adolescent Smoking: A Literature Review. Revue Interdisciplinaire Des Sciences De La Santé - Interdisciplinary Journal Of Health Sciences , 4 (1), 33. https://doi.org/10.18192/riss-ijhs.v4i1.1218
Myers, V., Shiloh, S., & Rosen, L. (2018). Parental perceptions of children’s exposure to tobacco smoke: development and validation of a new measure. BMC Public Health , 18 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5928-1
Scalici, F., & Schulz, P. (2017). Parents' and peers' normative influence on adolescents' smoking: results from a Swiss-Italian sample of middle school students. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, And Policy , 12 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-017-0089-2
Vuolo, M., & Staff, J. (2013). Parent and Child Cigarette Use: A Longitudinal, Multigenerational Study. PEDIATRICS , 132 (3), e568-e577. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-0067
