Beliefs and social norms about smoking onset and addictions among urban adolescent cigarette smokers.
Cigarette smoking is a behavior which is most often developed during adolescence. The association between smoking onset and nicotine addiction has not been clearly established among ethic minorities. To better understand this relationship, this study used a qualitative approach to investigate relevant beliefs and norms associated with cigarette smoking initiation and development of nicotine addiction among 52 high school students who identified themselves as current smokers. In general, it was found that both boys and girls believed nicotine addiction starts during an individual's initial cigarette smoking event. The majority of both groups reported that their second smoking event was initiated during the same or next day after their first event. In addition, this research confirmed that friends and siblings who use tobacco are strong reinforcers in youth smoking initiation.
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Center for Health Promotion, Research and Development, Houston 77030, USA. rpeters@sph.uth.tmc.edu
Ronald J
RJ
Peters
Steven H
SH
Kelder
Alexander V
AV
Prokhorov
Angela
A
Meshack
Carolyn
C
Agurcia
George
G
Yacoubian
Jennifer
J
Griffith
D000293:Adolescent; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population