title: Reconciling parenting and smoking in the context of child development.
abstract: In this article we explore the micro-social context of parental tobacco use in the first years of a child's life and early childhood. We conducted individual interviews with 28 mothers and fathers during the 4 years following the birth of their child. Using grounded theory methods, we identified the predominant explanatory concept in parents' accounts as the need to reconcile being a parent and smoking. Desires to become smoke-free coexisted with five types of parent-child interactions: (a) protecting the defenseless child, (b) concealing smoking and cigarettes from the mimicking child, (c) reinforcing smoking as bad with the communicative child, (d) making guilt-driven promises to the fearful child, and (e) relinquishing personal responsibility to the autonomous child. We examine the agency of the child in influencing parents' smoking practices, the importance of children's observational learning in the early years, and the reciprocal nature of parent-child interactions related to parents' smoking behavior.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention, University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. joan.bottorff@ubc.ca
authors.forename: Joan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bottorff
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Oliffe
authors.forename: Mary T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Joy L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012008:Recurrence; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D057545:Social Stigma; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000517:prevention & control; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
keywords: addiction/substance use; children, growth and development; parenting; research, qualitative; smoking cessation; tobacco and health