title: Parental smoking and pretend smoking in young children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether parental smoking was associated with smoking-related play behaviour in young children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children were asked to pretend that they were grown-ups having dinner. They were invited to act out this situation in a play corner with a toy kitchen and a child-sized dining area, including a package of fake cigarettes on the table.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children were tested individually at their school during regular school hours.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 100 children between 4 and 8 years of age (mean=5.28, SD=0.94) of which 57% were boys. The majority of the children were born in The Netherlands (99%).
  
  
  METHODS
  The main outcome measure was whether or not a child pretended to be smoking a cigarette. Child and parent reports were used to assess parental smoking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings revealed that 37% of the children had at least one 'puff' during their play. Children were more likely to pretend to smoke if they reported having smoking parents (OR=3.16, p=0.02; 95% CI=1.22 to 8.18). Analyses for the model with parent reports on parental smoking did not yield any direct association. Children's explicit attitudes were unrelated to their smoking-related play behaviour.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings indicate that young children, who reported having parents who smoke, already associate having dinner with a (after-dinner) cigarette.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. r.deleeuw@bsi.ru.nl
authors.forename: Rebecca N H
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: de Leeuw
authors.forename: Rutger C M E
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Engels
authors.forename: Ron H J
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scholte
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010290:Parents; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012907:Smoking; D012931:Social Environment