Students' perception of community disapproval, perceived enforcement of school antismoking policies, personal beliefs, and their cigarette smoking behaviors: results from a structural equation modeling analysis.
BACKGROUND
School tobacco use policies are often considered to be part of a comprehensive approach to preventing or reducing adolescent cigarette smoking. However, little is known about the relationships between such policies and adolescents' smoking behaviors or the mechanisms by which any such influence may occur. The present study tested a conceptual model that specifies possible direct and indirect relationships among community norms, school antismoking policies, adolescents' personal smoking beliefs, and cigarette smoking behaviors.


METHODS
This study used data from 17,256 middle and high school students who participated in the 2006 Oregon Health Teens Survey.


RESULTS
Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived enforcement of school policy was directly and positively related to perceived community norms. In addition, adolescents' personal beliefs appeared to mediate the relationship between perceived enforcement of school antismoking policies and past-30-day cigarette smoking. School policies, in turn, partially mediated the relationship between community norms and smoking beliefs.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study provide a better understanding of how community norms and school antismoking policies may affect adolescents' cigarette smoking.
Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1995 University Avenue, Suite 450, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA. skreda@prev.org
Sharon
S
Lipperman-Kreda
Joel W
JW
Grube
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D012574:Schools; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*