The Influence of Parental Attitude and Behavior on Early Adolescent Cigarette Smoking

Authors

Ian Newman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jolene M. Ward, Deaconess Hospital, St. Louis, MO

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1989

Comments

Published in Journal of School Health 59:4 (1989), pp. 150–152. Copyright © 1989 American School Health Association; published by Wiley-Blackwell. Used by permission

Abstract

In 1983, Nolte and colleagues reported parental attitude may be more powerful than parental behavior in shaping adolescent cigarette smoking behavior. This study replicates the finding of Nolte et al. and suggests parents need to be actively recruited to discourage their children from smoking, regardless of their own behavior. Fewer parents actively discourage youth smoking today than in 1983, a possible unfortunate result from on apparently successful effort to change the public attitude toward cigarette smoking.