Effect of Parental Smoking Behavior and Motives on Preadolescents' Neural Attention to Smoking-Related Cues

Objective: The goal of the present study was to investigate neural responses to smoking cues in preadolescent children of smokers and nonsmokers. Method: To accomplish this, we recruited 111 8-12-year-old children (M-age = 122.13 months; SD = 17.41; 50 female) and their parents. Participants were presented with 60 pictures of smoking-related and control cues that were matched in color, intensity, and size in random order on a computer screen. Pictures depicted people interacting with the relevant objects or the relevant objects were presented alone. Neural activity in the form of electroencephalogram was recorded during the presentation of the pictures, and event-related potentials elicited by these stimuli were examined. Parents answered questions about how often they smoked cigarettes and about their motives for smoking. Results: Results demonstrated that P3 amplitude was larger to smoking-related cues compared to non-smoking-related cues for children of smokers in the central, parietal, and occipital regions. This effect was only seen for pictures depicting people interacting with the stimuli (e.g., a person holding a cigarette). In contrast, responses did not differ across conditions in children of nonsmokers. Moreover, P3 amplitudes were larger for children of parents who reported that smoking provided greater positive and negative reinforcement. Conclusions: These findings provide important insights about the mechanisms involved in the relationship between parental and child smoking.