title: Sense of coherence and tobacco use myths among adolescents as predictors of at-risk youth cigarette use.
abstract: We examined the association between a general construct of wellness beliefs, sense of coherence, and a specific measure of tobacco-related beliefs, tobacco use myths, as predictors of two smoking-related outcome measures-next year smoking expectation and last 30-day smoking. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 710 adolescents attending California continuation high schools at baseline and at 1-year follow-up between 2006 and 2008. Cross-sectionally, predictor and outcome measures were correlated. However, in longitudinal analyses, only tobacco use myths predicted change in outcome measures. We speculate that future smoking interventions among adolescents would achieve relatively efficacious outcomes by targeting specific health beliefs instead of global health beliefs. The study's limitations are noted.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Social and Behavioral Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, 23298 USA.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: El-Shahawy
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jennifer Yo-Ka
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Louise Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rohrbach
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sussman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062789:Tobacco Products; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Sense of coherence; adolescents; cigarettes; smoking; tobacco use myths