It has been well-established that daily smokers most frequently began
smoking prior to age 18, and smoking habits in peers are among the greatest
predictors in whether or not adolescents will begin to smoke (Mahabee-Gittensa,
Xiao, Gordon & Khoury, 2013).
The adolescent years are dominated by emotions centred around social
acceptance and the need to fit in with peers (Mahabee-Gittensa et. al, 2013). With peer influences being so
prominently known as the main predictor for smoking initiation, the important
role played by parents in protecting against smoking initiation is downplayed.
That is not the sole reason why parents consistently play second fiddle
to peers in population-based efforts to prevent smoking initiation. There is a common belief that rules set
by parents are ineffective with respect to regulating behaviours in teens,
because adolescence is a period during which individuals are in the pursuit of increasing
autonomy (Mahabee-Gittensa et. al, 2013).
Additionally, it would be plausible for some to argue that parents are
minimally influential in determining the peer groups their son or daughter
tends to associate with.
A recent study found that while having peers who smoked proved to put
one at the greatest risk for smoking imitation, the effect was found to be
significant only until mid-adolescence, or around age 15 (Mahabee-Gittensa et.
al, 2013). During those same
years, parental monitoring, punishment for smoking, and perceived connectedness
to parents also proved to contribute significantly to the risk of smoking
initiation (Mahabee-Gittensa et. al, 2013). Contrary to findings surrounding the temporal effects of
peer influences that begin in early adolescence and diminish past
mid-adolescence, parental education and monitoring were found to protect
against smoking initiation before adolescence and well past the age of 15
(Mahabee-Gittensa et. al, 2013).
This implies a lasting effect of parents on the risk of smoking
initiation, while peer influences only appear to showcase their true potential
during the critical period from early- to mid-adolescence.
Despite the common belief that adolescents increasingly seek autonomy
from their parents, it has been found that parents contribute greatly to a
teen’s choice of friends (Mahabee-Gittensa et. al, 2013). This illustrates that the most powerful
predictor of smoking initiation (peer influences) is itself greatly influenced
by parents, suggesting that indirectly, parents may actually be the most
influential with regards to the risk of smoking initiation. This phenomenon has been demonstrated
through the increased tendency for children of parents with low education,
socioeconomic status, and discipline to associate with troubled peer groups who
are also much more likely to smoke (Mahabee-Gittensa et. al, 2013). Also, one may reasonably argue that
under certain circumstances, social risk factors could
potentially exacerbate or even confound the influences of parenting.
The findings in this study have important implications for public health
approaches taken in the prevention of smoking initiation, the most critical of
which is that the role of parents should be taken as seriously as the peer
groups of teens. The authors of
the article suggest that a successful intervention aimed at preventing smoking
initiation should target both parents and peer groups (Mahabee-Gittensa et. al,
2013). While I agree with the
authors, I would also include social risk factors as a third consideration in smoking-prevention
interventions, in addition to parents and peer groups.
References
Mahabee-Gittensa, M.,
Xiao, Y., Gordon, J., Khoury, J.
(2013). The Dynamic Role of Parental Influences in Preventing Adolescent
Smoking Initiation. Addictive Behaviours,
38(4), 1905-1911
