Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Mar;30(2):171-6.
doi: 10.1037/a0022024.

Parental smoking cessation and child daily smoking: A 9-year longitudinal study of mediation by child cognitions about smoking

Christopher M Wyszynski  1 , Jonathan B Bricker, Bryan A Comstock
Affiliations

Parental smoking cessation and child daily smoking: A 9-year longitudinal study of mediation by child cognitions about smoking

Christopher M Wyszynski et al. Health Psychol. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated to what extent the prospective relationship between parental smoking cessation and child daily smoking is mediated by child cognitions about smoking.

Design: The study drew its sample from the 40 Washington State school districts involved in the Hutchinson Smoking Prevention Project. The predictor variable of parental smoking cessation was measured during third grade. The mediator measures, consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Theory, were measured during ninth grade, and the smoking status outcome was measured during twelfth grade.

Main outcome measures: Smoking status at twelfth grade.

Results: Negative general attitudes toward smoking, attitude that cigarette smoke is bothersome, and tobacco refusal self-efficacy together significantly mediated 49% of the prospective relationship between parental smoking cessation and child daily smoking.

Conclusion: Parental smoking cessation before children reach third grade may lead children to develop more negative cognitions about smoking, and, in turn, reduce their risk of smoking.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest

Authors have no conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ajzen I. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 1991;50:179–211.
    1. Attebring MF, Herlitz J, Berndt AK, Karlsson T, Hjalmarson A. Are patients truthful about their smoking habits? A validation of self-report about smoking cessation with biochemical markers of smoking activity among patients with ischaemic heart disease. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2001;249:145–151. - PubMed
    1. Bandura A. Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 1986.
    1. Bricker JB, Leroux BG, Andersen M, Robyn R, Kumar B, Peterson AV., Jr Parental smoking cessation and children's smoking: Mediation by antismoking actions. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 2005;7:501–509. - PubMed
    1. Bricker JB, Leroux BG, Peterson AV, Jr, Kealey KA, Sarason IG, Andersen MR, Marek PM. Nine-year prospective relationship between parental smoking cessation and children’s daily smoking. Addiction. 2003;98:585–593. - PubMed

Publication types