Anti-tobacco socialization in homes in African-American and White parents, and smoking and nonsmoking parents.

Anti-tobacco socialization in homes in African-American and White parents, and smoking and nonsmoking parents.

Clark P I; Scarisbrick-Hauser A; Gautam S P; Wirk S J

Journal of Adolescent Health

1999

1999-05

PURPOSE: To examine parental perceptions and behaviors with regard to teen smoking, comparing African-American and white parents, and those who did and did not smoke. METHODS: Focus groups consisting of African-American and white parents who smoked provided initial in-depth information. A computer-assisted telephone survey of a biracial sample of 311 parents of children ages 8 to 17 years provided more generalizable information regarding parental beliefs and behaviors. RESULTS: Nearly 50% of households either allowed teen smoking, had no ground rules, or had set restrictive rules but never communicated them to the children. Compared to white parents, African-American parents felt more empowered to affect their children's behaviors and were more likely to actively participate in anti-tobacco socialization within the home (all p values \textless 0.01). Among the African-American parents, 98% reported 18 years or older to be an appropriate age for teens to make up their own minds about using tobacco, whereas 26% of white parents thought 16 years to be an appropriate age (p \textless 0.001). Parents who smoked reported more frequent rule-making than those who did not smoke (p = 0.02), but were more likely to believe that childhood tobacco use is inevitable (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Many parents are not engaged in antitobacco socialization in the home. Differences in the degree of parental participation may contribute to the variance in smoking prevalence between African-American and white children.

Ohio; Child; Focus Groups; Socialization; Human; Questionnaires; Chi Square Test; Funding Source; Interviews; Adolescence; Audiorecording; Blacks; Whites; Survey Research; Parental Attitudes – Ethnology; Parenting – Ethnology; Smoking – In Adolescence; Smoking – Prevention and Control – In Adolescence

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