Objective: To identify the influence factors of parental participation in tobacco control among adolescents.
Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data about smoking-related information from 2851 students and their parents in six secondary schools. The method of Ordinal Regression was applied to select significant influence factors.
Results: A total of 2617 pairs of valid questionnaires were included in final analysis. The portion of parents with V level participation was highest (46.4%), followed by IV level at 33.4%, III level at 13.4%, II level at 4.9% and I level at 1.9%. The mothers' participation was significant (P < 0.05) higher than fathers'. With Ordinal Regression, ten variables were selected as significant influence factors that could predict parental participation. Eight of them were associated with high parental participation and ranked as follows according to odds ratio: high education level, ever tried to quit smoking, correct attitudes to image and psychological effects of smoking, level of knowledge about respiratory diseases and cancers caused by cigarette smoking, correct attitudes to bans of smoking, having a male child, correct attitudes to smoking and personal interaction, and correct attitudes to health damage of smoking. On the contrary, two variables had significant association with low parental participation: current smoking and ages of parents.
Conclusion: The parents with lower education level, older age, daughters and current smoking are comparatively inactive in tobacco control among adolescents. Health promotion family is proposed as an effective way to increase their participation. As a result, the prevalence of smoking among adolescents in China will be under control in some extent.