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Psychological resources and cigarette smoking in adolescents
Author(s) -
Penny Gillian N.,
Robinson James O.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1986.tb02202.x
Subject(s) - psychology , locus of control , coping (psychology) , anxiety , trait anxiety , trait , clinical psychology , cigarette smoking , smoke , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , physics , meteorology , computer science , programming language
Despite society's increasing awareness of the adverse health consequences of cigarette use, adolescents continue to take up smoking. This study suggests that adolescents may smoke in order to alleviate the stress engendered by the adjustment demands of this period and that adolescents with fewer coping resources should be more likely to use cigarettes. An examination of the relationship between psychological resources and cigarette use indicated that adolescents who smoked had lower self‐esteem, a more external locus of control orientation and a higher level of trait anxiety compared with adolescents who did not smoke. The findings suggest that smoking performs a stress management function for those adolescents with a low sense of personal effectiveness.