Conversations That Clear the Air: Supportive Parent–Adolescent Communication and Smoking in a Dyadic Perspective

Despite evidence that family communication shapes adolescent health behaviors, few studies have examined the dyadic associations between parents and adolescents. This study investigates supportive parent-adolescent communication and smoking in both generations. Data from a representative sample of 940 parent-adolescent dyads were analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) with latent constructs. Results revealed significant actor and partner effects for adolescents: both adolescents' and parents' perceptions of supportive communication were associated with lower smoking. For parents, no actor effect emerged, while a marginal partner effect suggested that adolescents' positive perception of communication was related to lower parental smoking. Overall, supportive communication could operate as relational resources associated with reduced smoking, although causal inference is limited by the cross-sectional design. The study integrates two theoretical frameworks (Communication Accommodation Theory and Affection Exchange Theory) as interpretative lenses for the different generational results and overall highlights the utility of dyadic modeling for understanding intergenerational health communication.