title: Is inter-school variation in smoking uptake and cessation due to differences in pupil composition? A cohort study.
abstract: The aims of this study were to determine if inter-school variation in smoking prevalence was due to differences in pupil composition or other school-level factors. A cohort of 13-14-year-olds (n = 7147) from 52 schools was followed-up 1 year later. Random effects logistic regression was used to examine school variation in smoking uptake and cessation, with and without adjustment for pupil composition. Inter-school variation in smoking prevalence is not caused by differences in pupil composition but is due to differences in the onset of smoking arising because of unmeasured school contextual or collective factors operating on pupils' decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. p.n.aveyard@bham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aveyard
authors.forename: Wolfgang A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Markham
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lancashire
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Almond
authors.forename: Rod
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology