Smoking Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Smoking, including details on cigarettes, cancer, lung, tar, nicotine. | ||||||||
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Parental rules and monitoring of children's movie viewing associated with children's risk for smoking and drinking.Dalton MA, Adachi-Mejia AM, Longacre MR, Titus-Ernstoff LT, Gibson JJ, Martin SK, Sargent JD, Beach ML Hood Center for Children and Families, Community Health Research Program, HB 7465, Dartmouth Medical School, One Medical Center Dr, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA. madeline.dalton@dartmouth.edu OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests that media portrayals of tobacco and alcohol use are important predictors of adolescent smoking and drinking. We examined the role of parents in monitoring and limiting children's movie exposure and whether or not this was associated with a lower risk of adolescent smoking and drinking. DESIGN: We surveyed 2606 child-parent dyads between 2002 and 2003. We asked children (9-12 years of age) how often their parents engaged in specific behaviors to monitor their movie viewing and if their parents allowed them to watch R-rated movies. We also surveyed children about parental monitoring of nonmedia-related behaviors. The primary outcomes were risk of smoking and drinking alcohol, defined by attitudinal susceptibility or early experimentation with either substance. RESULTS: Less than half (45.0%) the children were prohibited from watching R-rated movies. Of those who were allowed to watch R-rated movies, one third (34.7%) always viewed them with a parent and two thirds (65.3%) sometimes watched them without a parent. Less than 10% of the children reported that their parents consistently engaged in all 4 movie-monitoring behaviors. Even after controlling for parental monitoring of nonmedia-related behaviors and other covariates, children were at lower risk of smoking and drinking if their parents prohibited them from watching R-rated movies. Parental coviewing of R-rated movies was associated with a lower risk of child smoking but not drinking if parents consistently monitored what their children watched. CONCLUSIONS: Parental rules and monitoring of children's movie viewing may have a protective influence on children's risk for smoking and drinking, over and above parental monitoring of nonmedia related behaviors. This highlights a potential role for parents in preventing early initiation of tobacco and alcohol use among adolescents. Published 2 November 2006 in Pediatrics, 118(5): 1932-42.
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