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Parental divorce and adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use: assessing the importance of family conflict
Author(s) -
Kristjansson Alfgeir Logi,
Sigfusdottir Inga Dora,
Allegrante John P.,
Helgason Asgeir R
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.01133.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cigarette smoking , alcohol , family conflict , population , demography , parental monitoring , cross sectional study , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychology , environmental health , biochemistry , chemistry , sociology , pathology
Abstract Aim: To investigate how family conflict contributes to the relationship between parental divorce and adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Design: Population‐based cross‐sectional survey. Setting: School classrooms in Iceland in which an anonymous questionnaire was administered to respondents by supervising teachers. Participants were 7430 (81.4%) of 9124 14‐ to 16‐year‐old adolescents. Main outcome measure: Cigarette smoking and alcohol use during the last 30 days were assessed by self‐report. Results: Parental divorce was related to adolescent cigarette smoking during the last 30 days (OR = 2.12, 95% CI 1.84–2.44) when controlling for gender only, but was insignificant (OR = 1.18 95%, CI 0.99–1.44) when controlling for relationship with parents, disruptive social changes and family conflict. There was a significant relationship between parental divorce and adolescent alcohol use during last 30 days (OR = 1.66, 95% CI 1.48–1.87), controlling only for gender; however, the relationship disappeared (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.91–1.20) when controlling for other variables. Conclusion: Family conflicts are important contributors to the relationship between parental divorce and adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Conflict between parents and adolescents, but not inter‐parental conflict, appears to be the most important factor in the relationship between family conflict and adolescent substance use.