| This project focuses on the influence parents have on the experimentation with smoking and onset of regular smoking in early adolescence. Although in the past decades numerous research projects have concentrated on the impact of parents on their off-springs smoking behavior (Engels, 2000; Petraitis & Flay, 1995; Conrad et al., 1992), many issues are still unresolved. First, the majority of studies concentrated on parental smoking behavior as a determinant of adolescent smoking. Nonetheless, less is know about about the impact of parenting and the parent-child bond, and their interplay with parental smoking status (see Foshee & Bauman, 1993; Chassin et al., 1998). Furthermore, more recently, a few researchers have argued that it is important to focus on the ways parents specifically deal with (adolescent) smoking at home: anti smoking socialization. An extensive review of the literature on anti smoking socialization can be found in Zoals de ouders zingen, piepen de jongen' (Engels, 2000). In the current project, we will look at the effects of anti smoking socialization on adolescent smoking, and examine the moderating and mediating influences of more general parenting orientations and family communication. Data from a three wave study with 6 months intervals among 2200 adolescents will be employed to answer the research questions. In addition, complete data from one parent at wave 1 was gathered in 650 families. In these cases, prospective data on onset of smoking among adolescents could be predicted by T1 data from parents and adolescents. Complete data will be available in April 2002. Data for the first wave were gathered in December 2000, and for the second and third wave in May-June 2001 and November-December 2001. In addition, for the first paper, data from a nationwide sample of 4504 adolescents from the Dutch Foundation on Smoking and Health (2000) will be used for analyses. Thus, besides the first paper, all papers focus on longitudinal analyses predicting the initiation of experimentation with smoking and regular smoking. |
