Abstract
BackgroundMany parents continue to smoke around their children despite the widely known risks of children’s exposure to tobacco smoke. We sought to learn about parental smoking behavior around children from parents’ perspective.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 smoking parents or partners of smoking parents of children up to age 7, to learn about home smoking rules, behaviours performed to try to protect children, and smoking-related conflicts, from parents’ perspective. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and thematic analysis performed. Recruitment was challenging due to the sensitive nature of the topic.ResultsMany parents described smoking around their children in certain areas of the home, outdoors, and in what they consider to be open or ventilated areas. Participants emphasized efforts to protect their children and described various mitigating practices but held mixed views as to their effectiveness. Parents had different conceptions of which areas or distances were considered ‘safe’. Many smoking parents described conflicts both internal and with other family members regarding the protection of children. Some parents who continue to smoke around their children despite understanding the health risks felt powerless to effect change, as well as being uncertain as to the effectiveness of their protective strategies; others were aware but reluctant to change.ConclusionFindings shed light on some of the difficulties faced by smoking parents and obstacles to maintaining a smoke-free environment for their children, providing insight for the type of information and support required to help parents better protect their children from exposure to tobacco smoke. Awareness of health risks associated with secondhand smoke was demonstrated, yet parents in smoking families were confused regarding which rules and behaviours best protect children from exposure to tobacco smoke. Parents were sometimes aware that their smoking ‘rules’ and mitigating practices were limited in their effectiveness. Guidelines should be provided explaining how and when exposure occurs and how to keep children safe.
Highlights
While some progress has been made in the field of smoke-free homes, many parents continue to smoke in the home or in their children’s environment despite the widely known risks of children’s exposure to tobacco smoke [1,2,3]
Analytic results The analysis yielded the identification of four major issues related to parental smoking practices around children: 1) Rules concerning in which places and situations parents smoke around their children; 2) Behaviours parents perform in an effort to protect their children from exposure to tobacco smoke, and how they feel about the efficacy of these mitigating practices; 3) Conflicts and negative emotions experienced by smoking parents, within themselves and with others with whom they interact regarding smoking around children; and
Rules concerning in which places and situations parents smoke around their children Many parents described home smoking rules self-enforced in an attempt to protect children
Summary
While some progress has been made in the field of smoke-free homes, many parents continue to smoke in the home or in their children’s environment despite the widely known risks of children’s exposure to tobacco smoke [1,2,3]. A 2017 report from the Israeli Ministry of Health found that between 25 and 35% of teenagers reported being exposed to tobacco smoke at home, and a biomarker study examining urine cotinine in children aged 5–14 in 2015–16 found substantial levels of detectable cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) [9]. Many parents continue to smoke around their children despite the widely known risks of children’s exposure to tobacco smoke. We sought to learn about parental smoking behavior around children from parents’ perspective
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