Abstract
Objective: To examine adolescents' attitudes toward smoking, the presence of a false consensus effect, and the influence of peer and parental attitudes about smoking choices on being a susceptible, never smoker; an experimenter; and a current smoker. Methods: Data from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's 1996 National Study of Tobacco Price Sensitivity, Behavior, and Attitudes Among Teenagers and Young Adults (RWJF survey) were used to produce national estimates of the tobacco use behaviors and attitudes of adolescents enrolled in high school. Three logistic regression models were estimated to examine which psychosocial variables were associated with three different stages of smoking uptake. Results: Positive attitudes toward tobacco use were associated with a greater likelihood of being a susceptible, never smoker (OR = 1.50), an experimenter (OR = 1.27), and a current smoker (OR = 2.96). Those respondents who believed that 50% or more of all adolescents smoked were more likely to be current smokers (OR = 1.45). The importance of the opinions of one's friends and parents about his/her choice to smoke was also found to be associated with smoking behavior. Conclusions: Preventing the initiation and continuation of smoking among adolescents will require interventions that address individual attitudes with respect to tobacco and will also need to present a clear picture of adolescent smoking. In addition, prevention and intervention messages should emphasize the importance of parental opinions on youth tobacco use regardless of parental tobacco use behavior.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Ross L, Greene D, House P. The false consensus effect: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution process. J Exp Soc Psychol 1977;13:279–301.
Botvin GJ, Botvin EM, Baker E, Dusenburyet L, Goldberg CJ. The false consensus effect: Predicting adolescents' tobacco use from normative expectations. Psychol Rep 1992;70:171–8.
Zuckerman M, Mann RW, Bernieri FJ. Determinants of consensus estimates: Attribution, salience, and representativeness. J Pers Soc Psychol 1982;42:839–52.
Sherman SJ, Presson CC, Chassin L. The false consensus effect in estimates of smoking prevalence: Underlying mechanisms. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 1983;9:197–207.
Hansen WB, Graham JW. Preventing alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among adolescents: Peer pressure resistance training versus establishing conservative norms. Prev Med 1991;20:414–30.
Botvin GJ, Epstein JA, Botvin EM. Adolescent smoking: Prevalence, causes, and intervention approaches. Adolesc Med 1998;31:107–14.
Epstein JA, Williams C, Botvin GJ, Diaz T, Ifill-Williams M. Psychosocial predictors of cigarette smoking among adolescents living in public housing developments. Tob Control 1999;8:45–52.
Epstein JA, Griffin KW, Botivin GJ. A model of smoking among inner-city adolescents: The role of personal competence and perceived social benefits of smoking. Prev Med 2000;31:107–14.
Sun D, Anderson M, Shah A, Julliard K. Early adolescents' perceptions of cigarette smoking: A cross-sectional survey in a junior high school. Adolescence 1998;33:805–10.
Klesges RC, Somes G, Pascale RW, Murphy M, Brown K, Williams E. Knowledge and beliefs regarding the consequences of cigarette smoking and their relationships to smoking status in a biracial sample. Health Psychol 1998;7:387–401.
Wang MQ, Fitzhugh EC, Eddy JM, Westerfield RC. School dropouts' attitudes and beliefs about smoking. Psychol Rep 1998;82:984–6.
Distefan JM, Gilpin EA, Choi WS, Pierce JP. Parental influences predict adolescent smoking in the United States, 1989–1993. J Adolesc Health 1998;22:466–74.
Wang MQ, Fitzhugh EC, Westerfield RC, Eddy JM. Family and peer influences on smoking behaviors among American adolescents: An age trend. J Adolesc Health 1995;16:200–3.
Bauman KE, Foshee VA, Linzer MA, Koch GG. Effect of parental smoking classification on the association between parental and adolescent smoking. Addict Behav 1990;15:413–22.
Urberg KA, Shyu SJ, Liang J. Peer influence in adolescent cigarette smoking. Addict Behav 1990;15:247–55.
Farkas AJ, Distefan JM, Choi WS, Pierce JP. Does parental smoking cessation discourage adolescent smoking? Prev Med 1999;28:213–8.
Sargeant JD, Dalton M. Does parental disapproval of smoking prevent adolescents from becoming established smokers? Pediatrics 2001;108:1256–62.
Andersen MR, Leroux BG, Marek PM, Peterson AV, Kealey KA, Bricker J, Sarason IG. Mothers' attitudes and concerns about their children smoking: Do they influence kids? Prev Med 2002;34:198–206.
Bauman KE, Carver K, Gleiter K. Trends in parent and friend influence during adolescence: The case of adolescent cigarette smoking. Addict Behav 2001;26:349–61.
Pierce JP, Choi WS, Gilpin EA, Farkas AJ, Merritt RK. Validation of susceptibility as a predictor of which adolescents take up smoking in the United States. Health Psychol 1996;15(5):355–61.
U.S. Department of Human Services. Preventing tobacco use among young people-A report of the surgeon general. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, 1994.
Choi WS, Pierce JP, Gilpin EA, Farkas AJ, Berry CC. Which adolescent experimenters progress to established smoking in the United States. Am J Prev Med 1997;13:385–91.
SAS Institute Inc. SAS/STAT User's Guide, Version 8. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc., 1999.
Shah BV, Barnwell BG, Bieler GS. SUDAAN User's Manual Release 7.5. Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute, 1997.
Sly DE, Heald GR, Ray S. The Florida "truth" anti-tobacco media evaluation: Design, first year results, and implications for planning future state media evaluations. Prev Med 2001;10:9–15.
Bauer UE, Johnson TM, Hopkins RJ, Brooks RG. Changes in youth cigarette use and intentions following implementation of a tobacco control program: Findings from the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, 1998–2000. JAMA 2000;284:723–8.
Soldz S, Kreiner P, Clark TW, Krakow M. Tobacco use among Massachusetts youth: Is tobacco control working? Prev Med 2000;31:287–95.
Farrelly MC, Healton CG, Davis KC, Messeri P, Hersey JC, Haviland ML. Getting to the truth: Evaluating national tobacco countermarketing campaigns. Am J Pub Health 2002;92:901–7.
Master Settlement Agreement. November 1998. Retrieved March 9, 2002, from http://www.naag.org/tobac/cigmsa.rtf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Castrucci, B.C., Gerlach, K.K., Kaufman, N.J. et al. The Association Among Adolescents' Tobacco Use, Their Beliefs and Attitudes, and Friends' and Parents' Opinions of Smoking. Matern Child Health J 6, 159–167 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019774028526
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019774028526