Reliability of proxy reports of parental smoking by elementary schoolchildren.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the reliability of reports of parental smoking by elementary schoolchildren aged 9-13 years, and to identify the correlates of disagreement between student proxy and parent self-reports.


METHODS
As part of the evaluation of a school-based heart health promotion program, data on parental smoking status were collected from 1240 student-mother pairs and 898 student-father pairs.


RESULTS
Agreement for parental smoking status was 93.1% among student-mother pairs and 86.4% among student-father pairs. Among student-mother pairs, reports by students aged 9 years were more likely to disagree with mothers' self-reports than those of older children (odds ratio (OR) = 3.1). Among student-father pairs, the only significant correlate of disagreement was living in a single-parent family headed by the mother (OR = 2.6).


CONCLUSIONS
Children 10-years or older can provide reliable reports of the smoking status of cohabiting parents.
Barnett
T
T
Department of Public Health, Montreal General Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
O'Loughlin
J
J
Paradis
G
G
Renaud
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*