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Predictors of cigarette use among South African adolescents

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Abstract

This study assessed the interrelation among domains of ethnic factors; the individual’s sense of well-being; personality, attitudes, and behaviors; sibling and peer smoking; and adolescent smoking behavior. The sample consisted of 1,468 South African adolescents selected from 4 ethnic groups self-identified as defined by current South African usage: Black (mainly Zulu and Xhosa), Indian, White, and Colored (mixed ancestry). In accordance with family interactional theory, there was a sequence of patterning from ethnic factors and the individual’s sense of well-being to adolescent personality, attitudes, and behaviors and models of smoking. All of the 4 domains in the model also had a direct effect on adolescent smoking behavior. The findings suggest 4 possible targets of therapeutic or preventive intervention with regard to adolescent smoking: ethnic factors; the individual’s sense of well-being; personality, attitudes, and behaviors; and smoking within the peer group.

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Correspondence to Judith S. Brook.

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This research was supported by Research Scientist Award DA 00244 to Judith S. Brook from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, and grant TW 05391 to David W. Brook, from the Fogarty International Center.

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Brook, J.S., Morojele, N.K., Brook, D.W. et al. Predictors of cigarette use among South African adolescents. Int. J. Behav. Med. 12, 207–217 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm1204_1

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