The role of smoking in the lives of low-income pregnant adolescents: a field study.
This study examined the role of cigarette smoking in the lives of low-income, pregnant adolescents. Based on in-depth interviews, subjects' beliefs and attitudes toward smoking are described. The findings indicate that this population smoked to cope with increased weight gain; to deliver smaller infants which in turn would decrease the duration of labor and reduce the pain of delivery; to counteract anxiety arising from feelings of abandonment; and to establish an identity separate from their parents' and peers' drug abuse. These results suggest that low-income, pregnant adolescents perceive immediate benefits from cigarette smoking that outweigh long-term health consequences. It is argued that smoking-prevention programs based on an inaccurate understanding of the social context in which smoking occurs can reinforce the use of tobacco among high-risk, pregnant adolescents. Suggestions are offered to improve prevention programs targeted at low-income, pregnant teenagers.
College of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Science, Lexington 40536-0086.
E J
EJ
Lawson
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008016:Life Change Events; D009769:Object Attachment; D010379:Peer Group; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D015430:Weight Gain