A multi-level analysis examining how smoking friends, parents, and older students in the school environment are risk factors for susceptibility to smoking among non-smoking elementary school youth.

Full Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how social models for smoking are related to smoking susceptibility among a sample of non-smoking elementary school students. The Tobacco Module of the School Health Action, Planning and Evaluation System (SHAPES) was administered to 6,431 students (grades 6 to 8) in 57 elementary schools in the province of Ontario, Canada. Multi-level logistic regression analysis was used to examine how smoking friends, parents, and the prevalence of smoking among grade 8 students at a school were related to smoking susceptibility among the 2,478 non-smoking grade 6 and 7 students. Findings indicate that non-smoking grade 6 and 7 students are more likely to be susceptible to smoking if they have (a) smoking friends, (b) a mother who smokes, or (c) two or more close friends who smoke and attend a school with a relatively high smoking rate among the grade 8 students. Sub-populations of non-smoking youth may be at increased risk for smoking because of the elementary school they attend. Future school-based smoking prevention programs might benefit from targeting prevention programming activities to the schools that are putting students at the greatest risk for smoking.

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Author information

Author/s: Leatherdale, Scott T (ST); McDonald, Paul W (PW); Cameron, Roy (R); Jolin, Mari Alice (MA); Brown, K Stephen (KS);

Affiliation: Division of Preventive Oncology, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5G 2L7. scott.leatherdale(-atsign-)cancercare.on.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research (Prev Sci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 7 (issue 4) : pp 397-402

Dates: Created 2006/12/12; Completed 2007/03/15;

PMID: 16823633, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Child
Child Behavior - psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Family - psychology
Female
Humans
Logistic Models

Male
Peer Group
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Risk-Taking
Schools
Smoking - epidemiology; prevention & control; psychology
Social Environment
Students - psychology; statistics & numerical data

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