Inter-generational concordance of smoking status between mothers and young people aged 10–15 in the UK

Abstract

Smoking habits are laid down in adolescence, a habit that will kill half of those who continue to smoke through adulthood. Having a parent, and particularly a mother, who smokes, elevates the risk of adolescent smoking. Both maternal and adolescent smoking statuses are, in turn, related to wider familial factors. Poorer family circumstances increases the risk of adolescent smoking; compared to young people living with both parents, those in lone-mother families are alsomore likely to be smokers. In addition, there aremarked ethnic differences in adolescent smoking; for example in the UK, prevalence is loweramongAsianandAfrican-Caribbeangroups than inwhite groups and in the US, rates are lower among AfricanAmericans than among both Hispanic and white groups. While these familial factors are widely recognized, few studieshave investigatedhowthese familial factorsare related to mother-child concordance in smoking status. The reliance on school-based surveys of young people limits the information that can be collected on family socio-economic