This paper looks at the independent contributions of the setting and the
intensity of after-school self-care to the cigarette smoking behaviors of
2352 ninth graders. We controlled for a variety of correlates of adolescent
cigarette smoking that have not been accounted for in existing research.
Results indicated that the intensity of the self-care experience was signi®cantly
associated with adolescent smoking behavior irrespective of the typical setting
of the adolescents’ after-school activities. Our ®ndings also indicated that a nonpermissive parenting style, family rule-setting about cigarettes, and
especially, in absentia parental monitoring may reduce the likelihood of cigarette
smoking among latchkey and nonlatchkey adolescents alike. However, latchkey
youth were not any more sensitive to these aspects of parenting than other
adolescents. This is consistent with the notion that targeting these aspects of
the home lives of all adolescents has the potential to reduce smoking behaviors
among latchkey as well as nonlatchkey children.
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