PURPOSE: To investigate the reliability of reports of parental smoking by elementary schoolchildren aged 9-13 years, and to identify the correlates of disagreement between student proxy and parent self-reports. METHODS: As part of the evaluation of a school-based heart health promotion program, data on parental smoking status were collected from 1240 student-mother pairs and 898 student-father pairs. RESULTS: Agreement for parental smoking status was 93.1% among student-mother pairs and 86.4% among student-father pairs. Among student-mother pairs, reports by students aged 9 years were more likely to disagree with mothers' self-reports than those of older children (odds ratio (OR) = 3.1). Among student-father pairs, the only significant correlate of disagreement was living in a single-parent family headed by the mother (OR = 2.6). CONCLUSIONS: Children 10-years or older can provide reliable reports of the smoking status of cohabiting parents.
PURPOSE: To investigate the reliability of reports of parental smoking by elementary schoolchildren aged 9-13 years, and to identify the correlates of disagreement between student proxy and parent self-reports. METHODS: As part of the evaluation of a school-based heart health promotion program, data on parental smoking status were collected from 1240 student-mother pairs and 898 student-father pairs. RESULTS: Agreement for parental smoking status was 93.1% among student-mother pairs and 86.4% among student-father pairs. Among student-mother pairs, reports by students aged 9 years were more likely to disagree with mothers' self-reports than those of older children (odds ratio (OR) = 3.1). Among student-father pairs, the only significant correlate of disagreement was living in a single-parent family headed by the mother (OR = 2.6). CONCLUSIONS:Children 10-years or older can provide reliable reports of the smoking status of cohabiting parents.
Authors: Marilyn Johnson-Kozlow; Dennis R Wahlgren; Melbourne F Hovell; Danette M Flores; Sandy Liles; C Richard Hofstetter; Jennifer Zellner; Joy M Zakarian Journal: J Clin Epidemiol Date: 2010-03-25 Impact factor: 6.437