Influence of family and friend smoking on intentions to smoke and smoking-related attitudes and refusal self-efficacy among 9–10 year old children from deprived neighbourhoods: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundSmoking often starts in early adolescence and addiction can occur rapidly. For effective smoking prevention there is a need to identify at risk groups of preadolescent children and whether gender-specific intervention components are necessary. This study aimed to examine associations between mother, father, sibling and friend smoking and cognitive vulnerability to smoking among preadolescent children living in deprived neighbourhoods.MethodsCross-sectional data was collected from 9–10 year old children (n =1143; 50.7% girls; 85.6% White British) from 43 primary schools in Merseyside, England. Children completed a questionnaire that assessed their smoking-related behaviour, intentions, attitudes, and refusal self-efficacy, as well as parent, sibling and friend smoking. Data for boys and girls were analysed separately using multilevel linear and logistic regression models, adjusting for individual cognitions and school and deprivation level.ResultsCompared to girls, boys had lower non-smoking intentions (P = 0.02), refusal self-efficacy (P = 0.04) and were less likely to agree that smoking is ‘definitely’ bad for health (P < 0.01). Friend smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) and boys (P < 0.01), and with refusal self-efficacy in girls (P < 0.01). Sibling smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) but a positive association was found in boys (P = 0.02). Boys who had a smoking friend were less likely to ‘definitely’ believe that the smoke from other people’s cigarettes is harmful (OR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.91, P = 0.02). Further, boys with a smoking friend (OR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.69, P < 0.01) or a smoking sibling (OR 0.45, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.98) were less likely to ‘definitely’ believe that smoking is bad for health.ConclusionThis study indicates that sibling and friend smoking may represent important influences on 9–10 year old children’s cognitive vulnerability toward smoking. Whilst some differential findings by gender were observed, these may not be sufficient to warrant separate prevention interventions. However, further research is needed.

Differences in Cigarette Use and the Tobacco Environment Among Youth Living in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas

“…Due to the cross‐sectional nature of this study, it is unclear if these factors led to differences observed in cigarette smoking in this study. However, these factors have been shown to be important contributors to adolescent smoking in previous studies . The differences found in this study indicate that focusing or including parents and adults in nonmetro communities in tobacco‐related interventions may be important.…”

“…However, these factors have been shown to be important contributors to adolescent smoking in previous studies. 25,26 The differences found in this study indicate that focusing or including parents and adults in nonmetro communities in tobacco-related interventions may be important. Encouraging nonmetro parents to adopt a home smoking ban may be particularly beneficial.…”

Association between Family and Friend Smoking Status and Adolescent Smoking Behavior and E-Cigarette Use in Korea

“…If no parent smoked and an older sibling smoked, the OR that the 12th grader would smoke was 1.85 compared to 1.49 if a parent smoked [21]. Intentions to smoke and smoking-related attitudes were influenced by family and friend smoking status [22] and family structure affected the adolescents smoking stages [23]. These findings demonstrate that family smoking is a crucial factor that affects adolescent smoking behavior.…”

Theory of Planned Behavior: Analysis of Factors AffectingthePreventive Behaviors of Alcohol Consumption and Smoking among Students from West Kalimantan, in Yogyakarta

“…Niat yang tinggi mempengaruhi orang tersebut untuk melakukan perilaku yaitu perilaku pencegahan konsumsi alkohol dan merokok. Hal ini juga didukung oleh penelitian Mcgee at al (2015), dimana tidak terdapat pengaruh langsung sikap terhadap perilaku pencegahan merokok, namun sikap dapat melalui niat dalam mempengaruhi perilaku pencegahan merokok pada individu (Mcgee et al, 2015). Sikap juga merupakan faktor yang signifikan dalam memprediksi niat untuk melakukan perilaku seperti merokok (Karimy et al, 2015).…”