Family and Personal Protective Factors Moderate the Effects of Adversity and Negative Disposition on Smoking Among Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

Tobacco use among Chinese adolescents is increasing at approximately 80,000 new smokers per day. Assessing the causes for initiating tobacco use in China will be important in developing effective interventions and policies to stem rising prevalence rates. This study tested predictors of Resilience Theory in a sample of 602 Chinese adolescents. Results revealed that prior adversity, measured through school and family-related events, was significantly associated with increased smoking in females. Family factors (i.e., family cohesion, family adaptability, parental monitoring) and one personal factor (i.e., academic score) were associated with lower odds for smoking due to prior adversity and negative disposition.

Resilience as Mediator in the Relationship between Family Functioning and Depression among Adolescents from Single Parent Families

“…This finding was consistent with previous studies which reported the relationship between family functioning and resilience (Arpawong et al 2010;Retzlaff et al 2006). The results showed that family cohesion has the stronger relationship with resilience compared to family adaptability.…”

Additive and subtractive resilience strategies as enablers of biographical reinvention: A qualitative study of ex-smokers and never-smokers

“…or responses to trauma in adulthood. Nevertheless, there are studies on smoking and resilience that have identified the family, peer and personal factors which act as moderators of smoking, particularly in adolescents (Arpawong, Sun, Chang, Gallaher, Pang, Guo et al, 2010;Stanton, Lowe, & Silva, 1995). In addition, there is a broader literature around vulnerabilities, especially in relation to adolescence, which also addresses the risk and protective factors (in a similar way to our model of resilience in Figure 1) for health risk behaviours (e.g.…”

Self-Efficacy: As Moderator of the relation between Family Factors and Adolescent Cigarette Smoking Behavior

“…These factors include parental adjustment, marital adjustment or conflict, parenting, family cohesion, family adaptability, and the degree of parenting stress. Researchers have observed that among these factors, family cohesion and family adaptability are significantly related to risk behaviors such as cigarette smoking among adolescents (Fang et al, 2009;Gau et al, 2009;Mckinney, 2009;Arpawong et al, 2010;Kalavana et al, 2011;Baheiraei et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2013). The influence of family cohesion and adaptability on adolescents' smoking behaviors is discussed below.…”

“…28;2015 to be isolated from or distant from the other family members or from the other spouse, the adolescent's smoking is likely to be elevated. Adolescents, who have a strong parent-child bond, believe that their parents care about their lives, tend to adapt their parents' value and follow a healthy behavior (Arpawong et al, 2010).…”

“…Also, Arpawong et al (2010) examined the relationship of family cohesion and adaptability with smoking among 602 Chinese adolescents. The results of this study revealed that family cohesion and adaptability, parental monitoring were significantly associated with smoking among adolescents and low family cohesion, family adaptability and parental monitoring was associated with a higher level of smoking.…”