Background and methodAdolescents observe and imitate people to whom they are associated in their social context, and the normative factors sent out by reference groups are crucial determinants of their decision to smoke. The aim of the study is to investigate how adolescents’ smoking changes when they are exposed to factors of pro-smoking normative influence by parents and peers, and how age moderate this relation. A cross sectional survey collected data from 5657 students, aged between 11 and 14, from public and private middle schools in the Italian region of Switzerland (Ticino) on their smoking habits, perceived parents’ and peers’ approval and smoking.ResultsMultinomial logistic regression show that, as adolescents get older, more of the pro-smoking factors come from peers and parents, the higher the risk gets of being a “heavy smoker” has compared against having no experience with smoking. Living in a context with no factor of normative influence toward smoking play a protective role against smoking, and this effect becomes more important than more harmful the smoking behavior in question is. Furthermore, peers’ descriptive norms are more influential for adolescents to become “light” and “heavy smokers”, while smoking being approved by peers is important for adolescents to become accustomed to smoking.ConclusionsFindings support the different influence of parents’ and peers’ norms on adolescents’ smoking, and highlight the importance of peers’ model behavior as the most important factor influencing smoking during adolescence. Such results have implications for programs that aim to prevent or reduce smoking in early adolescence when friendship choice starts to become crucial.
PurposeThe aim of the study is to investigate how adolescents' perception of parents' and peers' smoking approval influences adolescent smoking intention, and how age affects this influence in a Swiss sample of adolescents. To know the influence of age can help to develop specific prevention programs tailored to the age groups needs.Methodin a cross sectional survey, students aged between 11 and 14 from public and private middle schools in the Italian region of Switzerland (Ticino) answered questions on smoking habits, parents' and peers' approval and intention to smoke.Resultspeers' and parents' approval significantly influence students' smoking intention, and students' age significantly moderates this relation: the effect of parents' approval decreases for older adolescents, while the effect of peers' approval increases with age. No difference is found between girls and boys, while non-Swiss are more likely to smoke than Swiss students.Conclusionsas literature suggests, results evidence the role parents play during early adolescence. Prevention programs targeting parent-child communication in early adolescence for preventing children's tobacco consumption are strongly supported.
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The majority of today’s adult smokers took up the habit during adolescence. The school community and the rules it imposes are important factors that can influence adolescents’ smoking intention and behaviour. Research on the effect of school tobacco policies on adolescents’ smoking concludes with mixed results. Our study aims to look at the influence of these policies on the intention to smoke and to know if this relation is mediated by individual and environmental factors. The study includes information on social norms, attitude towards smoking and smoking intention from 4515 students of 32 Ticino middle schools and on the tobacco policy implemented in this school. Linear regression indicates a marginal impact of school policy on intention to smoke. Schools that strongly enforce tobacco policy obtain an increase in their students’ intention to smoke, while schools that implement assistance programmes to overcome tobacco use decrease intention to smoke. Mediation models show that the influence of some of tobacco policy dimensions on the intention to smoke is mediated by personal attitudes towards smoking, beliefs about health consequences of smoking and perceived peers smoking. Increasing visibility of tobacco policies and having tobacco prevention programmes have stronger positive effects on smoking intention than other policy dimensions, but only through the mediation of individual and environmental factors.
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