title: Parental smoking and children's attention to smoking cues.
abstract: Research has shown that children with smoking parents are more likely to initiate smoking than children with non-smoking parents. So far, these effects have been explained through genetic factors, modelling and norm-setting processes. However, it is also possible that parental smoking affects smoking initiation through automatic cognitive processes. Therefore, we examined whether children with a smoking parent focus longer, faster and more often on smoking cues. The children were given two movie clips to watch, during which their attention to smoking cues was assessed with eye-tracking technology. Results showed that children with a smoking parent focused more often and longer on smoking cues compared with children with non-smoking parents. No correlations between attentional bias and explicit smoking cognitions were found. In conclusion, results suggest that parental smoking affects children's attention to smoking cues. These findings may indicate that parental smoking instigates automatic cognitive processes in children who have not experimented with smoking, and possibly even before explicit smoking cognitions become more favourable.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. k.lochbuehler@pwo.ru.nl
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lochbuehler
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Otten
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Voogd
authors.forename: Rutger C M E
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Engels
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001288:Attention; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D003463:Cues; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009040:Motion Pictures; D009426:Netherlands; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013997:Time Factors