Predicting children's level of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke based on two national surveys in Norway in 1995 and 2001

The purpose of the present study was to explore the predictive power of four predictors (level of household education, rules for indoor smoking, awareness of health risks of ETS, and attitudes towards ETS) in accounting for level of children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoking (ETS) as reported by parents. The data derive from two nationwide interview surveys comprising 1000 households with 3-year-old children performed in 1995 and 2001. Only households in which one of the parents was a current smoker (N=212 in 1995 and 179 in 2001) were included. The four predictors explained a higher portion of the variance in level of exposure to ETS in 1995 (R-2=.30) as compared to 2001 (R-2=.21). The relative importance of the predictors in 1995: rules for indoor smoking (beta=.35), attitudes (beta=.19), level of education (beta=.17), while awareness of risk had an insignificant effect. For 2001 only two predictors were significant: attitudes (beta=.41) and level of education (beta=.16). The results suggest a shift in intervention strategy from a focus on structural to individualised strategies. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.