Comparison of problematic behaviours of 10th and 11th year Southern English adolescents. Part 2: Current drink, drug and sexual activity of children with smoking parents.
To determine parental and school influences upon the behaviour and attitudes of adolescents of smoking versus non-smoking parents and of those "liking and disliking" school. Utilising a self-administered confidential standardised questionnaire, a representative sample of Southern English 10th and 11th year secondary school pupils was obtained. Current drink, drug and sexual behaviour were explored and data on adolescents whose parents smoked was extrapolated and compared against adolescents of non-smoking parents. Pupils reporting "liking school" were compared against those "not liking school" and all results statistically analysed. There were 17% smoking mothers [SM] and 23% smoking fathers [SF]. The focus is upon students of SF whose adolescents are significantly more often engaged in substance misuse (38-18%), drinking in pubs (31%-15%), binge drinking (32%-18%), and under-age sexual activity (27%-14%) plus smoking (51%-32%), truanting (43%-23%), vandalism (32%-22%) and stealing (19%-11%). SM students had higher incidence of sexual behaviour (33%-13%) and unprotected sex (21%-6%). Students of smoking parents were less well informed and had significantly more negative attitudes about social behaviour and responsibility. "Liking school" was associated to significantly lower rates of problematic behaviour, which predominately was not related to the social background of the pupils. The smoking father criteria carries a social class bias, nonetheless these parents need to be aware of the particular behaviour of their children and their increased risk. SF do not "cause" the behaviour rather it reflects something of the nature of the adolescent's relationship to parents, school and society.
Cox
Malcolm
M
School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Institute of Health and Community Studies, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH, United Kingdom.
Pritchard
Colin
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012922:Social Change; D012940:Social Problems; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires