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Understanding the Authoritative Parenting-Early Adolescent Tobacco Use Link: The Mediating Role of Peer Tobacco Use

NCJ Number
195463
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 31 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2002 Pages: 311-318
Author(s)
Stacey L. Adamczyk-Robinette; Anne C. Fletcher; Kristie Wright
Date Published
August 2002
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article presents the findings of a study associating authoritative parenting and early adolescent tobacco use.
Abstract
In this article, researchers assess the link between the authoritative parenting style and adolescents’ tobacco use. Authoritative parenting is defined as parents who are involved in their children’s lives, who set clear limits on their children’s behaviors, and who encourage their children to develop their own opinions. Drawing on questionnaires completed by 156 eighth-grade students, the authors sought to draw links between authoritative parenting and adolescent well-being. Students’ perceptions of their parents’ warmth, involvement, structure, and psychological autonomy granting were collected and analyzed along with information on students’ levels of tobacco use. Bivariate associations indicated that higher levels of authoritative parenting were associated with lower levels of tobacco use among adolescents. It was also found that adolescents who were members of non-tobacco-using peers groups and who had authoritative parents were even more unlikely to use tobacco. Tables, references