title: Predictors of cigarette use among South African adolescents.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. Judith.Brook@med.nyu.edu
authors.forename: Judith S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Brook
authors.forename: Neo K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Morojele
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Brook
authors.forename: Zohn
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rosen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010551:Personality; D012649:Self Concept; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D013019:South Africa