The early use of alcohol and tobacco: its relation to children's competence and parents' behavior.
OBJECTIVE
Use of tobacco and alcohol during childhood predicts heavy use of these substances and use of illicit drugs during adolescence. This study aims to identify developmental correlates of tobacco and alcohol use among elementary-school children.


METHODS
Cross-sectional surveys were used to measure tobacco and alcohol use, multiple indicators of child competence, parenting behaviors, and parental modeling of tobacco and alcohol use in a sample of 1470 third- and fifth-grade children. Both self-report and teacher-rated assessments were obtained, which allowed collateral testing of study hypotheses.


RESULTS
Children's tobacco and alcohol use was strongly related to low scores on several measures of child competence, both self-reported and teacher rated. Children's tobacco and alcohol use was also associated with less effective parenting behaviors and with parental use of tobacco and alcohol.


CONCLUSIONS
Children's early experience with tobacco and alcohol is associated with weak competence development and exposure to socialization factors that promote risk taking. Interventions to prevent early use of tobacco and alcohol are needed.
Jackson
C
C
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599-7400, USA.
Henriksen
L
L
Dickinson
D
D
Levine
D W
DW
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010290:Parents; D010379:Peer Group; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012649:Self Concept; D012907:Smoking; D012919:Social Behavior; D014937:Work