title: Continued importance of family factors in youth smoking behavior.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although it is known that levels of family factors (FF) such as parental monitoring and parent-adolescent connectedness vary during adolescence, it is unknown which factors remain protective, preventing smoking initiation, in youth of differing racial/ethnic groups. Using a longitudinal, nationally representative sample, we examined which FF protect against smoking initiation in White, Black, and Hispanic youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 3,473 parent-nonsmoking youth dyads from Round 1 (T1) of the National Survey of Parents and Youth were followed to Round 3 (T2). Youth smoking status at T2 was assessed as the primary outcome. We examined changes in FF (T2 - T1) and the protection afforded by these factors at T1 and T2 for smoking initiation, both by race/ethnicity and overall.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were statistically significant decreases in levels of protective FF from T1 to T2 across all racial/ethnic groups; however, FF levels were higher in never-smokers compared with smoking initiators at both T1 and T2 (p < .05). Separate models by race/ethnicity showed the protective effect of increased perceived punishment in all racial/ethnic groups and protection against initiation by increased parental monitoring in Black and Hispanic youth. Overall, higher parental monitoring at T1 was associated with decreased odds of smoking initiation (33%); decreased parental monitoring and perceived punishment from T1 to T2 were associated with increased odds of smoking initiation (55% and 17%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Smoking prevention interventions should encourage parents to both enforce consistent consequences of smoking behavior, and continue monitoring, especially in minority groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039, USA. melinda.mahabee-gittens@cchmc.org
authors.forename: E Melinda
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mahabee-Gittens
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Judith S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Jane C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Khoury
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data