There have been inconsistent reports on the effects of
family bonding on smoking initiation [12]. For example, in
other studies family bonding was predictive of smoking
only for females among black adolescents [32], only for
older adolescents [33], and for pre- or early adolescents
[11]. Using prospective longitudinal data from a multiethnic
and gender-balanced sample, this study found that family
bonding was a significant predictor of daily smoking initiation,
especially during the early years of high school. The
finding that parent attitudes predicted smoking in the singledomain
models, but not after controlling for parent smoking
and family processes, indicates that onset of regular smoking
is more a function of what parents do (smoking and
parenting practices) rather than what they express as attitudes.
Prior work examining family influences on smoking initiation
in elementary school [11] found that although parent
smoking, bonding, and parent involvement in school predicted
trying cigarettes, family management and conflict did
not. The present study indicates that in addition to parent
smoking and family bonding, good family management is an important factor in reducing the onset of daily smoking
in adolescence.
In an earlier SSDP study [18] examining the contribution
of parental drinking, poor family management practices,
and parental norms favorable to adolescent alcohol use at
age 13 in predicting alcohol use at age 15, the effects of
parental drinking became insignificant when effects of family
management practices and parental norms regarding
adolescent alcohol use were considered. Those findings
suggested that parents who drink can reduce their children’s
risk of underage drinking by using good family management
practices and not communicating permissive attitudes
regarding underage drinking. However, the present findings
indicate that parent smoking contributes to the onset of daily
smoking in their teenagers even if parents practice good
family management, hold norms against teen tobacco use,
and do not involve their children in their own tobacco use.