Do Mothers’ Status, Autonomy, and Parenting Style Influence Their Children’s Initiation Into Smoking and Alcohol Use?

Abstract This study uses the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) data set and Cox proportional hazards models to determine whether factors relating to mothers’ status and autonomy, as well as other parenting and socioeconomic/sociodemographic variables, are associated with the early onset of children’s risky behaviors, namely smoking and drinking alcohol. We find that the women empowerment variables, especially those that have direct bearing on the mother–child relationship, have a significant effect in delaying or hastening the onset of risky behavior. Those factors that compete for the time spent in parenting, such as the mother working, hastens their children’s initiation into these risky habits. On the other hand, mothers’ involvement in household decision-making delays smoking in females.