Open AccessThe Effect Of Family And Social Environment On Smoking Behaviour In Adolescence
Author(s) -
Ζωή Ρούπα,
Aristidis Vasilopoulos,
Chrissi Hatzoglou,
Konstantinos Gourgoulianis,
Antonios Kefaliakos,
Enkeleint A. Mechili,
Olga Archangelidi,
Emmanouil Mentzakis,
Marianna Diomidous
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european scientific journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1857-7881
pISSN - 1857-7431
DOI - 10.19044/esj.2016.v12n2p62
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , socialization , peer group , peer influence , medicine , demography , youth smoking , monitoring the future , psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , public health , tobacco control , substance abuse , nursing , communication , sociology
Background: Parental and peer smoking are considered major predictors of smoking in adolescence. We investigate the impact of family and social environment and parental anti-smoking socialization on the intensive and extensive margins of smoking for Greek adolescents. Method and Material: Information on 873 adolescents was collected through a self-reported survey and regression analysis examined associations with five different smoking outcomes (current/lifetime smoking status/intensity and onset). Subgroup analyses and interactions provided further insights. Results: Prevalence of adolescent smoking is high. Family and peer smoking habits and smoking restrictions at home reduce probability and intensity of smoking. Parental smoking increases probability of current smoking by 5% (95% CI: 0.01-0.09) as does having all your friends smoking by 30% (95% CI: 0.16-0.45). Parental anti-smoking advice delays onset of smoking by 0.76 years (95% CI: 0.15-1.39) but does not affect current smoking. Conclusion: Family and social environments play a significant role in preventing or promoting smoking and should be regarded as crucial factors when devising policy to curb adolescent smoking.