BRIEF REPORT

Impact of parental home smoking policies on policy choices of independently living young adults.

Alison Albers¹, Lois Biener², Michael Siegel¹, Debbie Cheng³, Nancy A Rigotti⁴

¹ Boston University School of Public Health, United States;
² University of Massachusetts Boston, United States;
³ Boston University, United States;
⁴ Massachusetts General Hospital, United States

E-mail: alisonalbers{at}comcast.net

Objective: To determine whether adolescents living in parental homes where smoking is banned are more likely to move into smoke-free living quarters when they leave home.

Methods: We analyzed data on 693 youths from a four-year, three-wave prospective study of a representative sample of Massachusetts adolescents (aged 12-17). All youths resided in independent living quarters at follow-up. The primary outcome was presence of a smoking ban in the living quarters at follow-up. The primary predictor was presence of a household smoking ban in the parental home, assessed two years prior to the outcome. Generalized linear mixed effects models examined the effect of a parental household smoking ban on the odds of moving into smoke-free living quarters at follow-up overall and stratified by smoking status at follow-up.

Results: Youths leaving home had much higher odds of moving to smoke-free living quarters if their parental household had had a smoking ban (odds ratio [OR] = 12.70, 95% CI, 6.19-26.04). Other independent predictors included moving into a school or college residence (odds ratio [OR] = 3.88, 95% CI 1.87-8.05), and not living with smokers at follow-up (odds ratio [OR] = 3.91, 95% CI 1.93-7.92).

Conclusions: A household smoking ban in the parental home appears to lead youth to prefer smoke-free living quarters once youths leave home.

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