Nine-year prospective relationship between parental smoking cessation and children's daily smoking

• Published in: Addiction (Abingdon, England) Vol. 98; no. 5; pp. 585 - 593
• Main Authors: BRICKER, Jonathan B, LEROUX, Brian G, PETERSON, Arthur V, KEALEY, Kathleen A, SARASON, Irwin G, ANDERSEN, M. Robyn, MAREK, Patrick M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell 01-05-2003
• Subjects: Addiction; Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Cessation; Child; Child health; Children; Female; Health; Health Behavior; High schools; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Peer Group; Predictors; Prospective Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking Cessation - statistics & numerical data; Social problems; Students; Tobacco smoking; Tobacco, tobacco smoking; Toxicology; U.S.A; United States - epidemiology; USA; United States; Human; Preschool age; Social environment; Parent; Tobacco smoking; Prospective; Daily; Tobacco; School age; Shutdown; Follow up study; Smoker; Family environment; Child
• ISSN: 0965-2140; 1360-0443
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00343.x

The first prospective investigation of the extent to which parental smoking cessation predicts their children's daily smoking.
Parental smoking status was assessed when children were aged 8/9 years and children's smoking status was assessed at age 17/18 years.
Twenty Washington State school districts in the control group of the Hutchinson Smoking Prevention Project.
Questionnaire data were gathered on 3012 children (49% female and 91% Caucasian) and both of their parents in a cohort with a 95% retention rate.
When both parents quit smoking, children's odds of daily smoking were reduced by 39% (95% CI = 15%,56%) compared to when both parents were current smokers.Furthermore, when both parents never smoked then children's odds of daily smoking were reduced by 71% (95% CI = 62%,78%).
Parental smoking cessation is associated with reduced risk of their children's daily smoking. Parents who quit still place children at substantially higher risk compared to parents who never smoked.