Family relationships and adolescent cigarette smoking: Results from a national longitudinal survey

The current study used national survey data to identify which aspects of family relationships are predictive of experimental and daily cigarette smoking. A multiwave longitudinal survey periodically assessed adolescents aged 11 to 17 (N = 1,725) over a seven year follow-up period. Parent interviewers were obtained at the initial screening. Nineteen indicators of family relationships were used based on parent and child interviews. Several indicators of smoking were used including first time cigarette smoking, a nine-point scale of intensity of experimentation with cigarettes, an indicator of daily smoking, and an indicator of smoking at least five or more cigarettes per day. Logistic and multiple regression analyses that controlled for ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status found that family relationships were only predictive for subjects under the age of 18. Significant predictors were (a) indices of parental attachment, (b) indices of time spent with one's family, (c) having older siblings who smoke, (d) family structure, (e) family stress, (g) parental negative labeling of the child, and (h) parental leniency towards delinquent acts. We conclude that several aspects of family relationships are important predictors of adolescent cigarette smoking and predict daily smoking more strongly than initial smoking.