Skip to main content
PMC home page
Tobacco Control logoLink to Tobacco Control
. 2004 Sep;13(3):301–307. doi: 10.1136/tc.2003.005363

Current smoking among young adolescents: assessing school based contextual norms

S Pokorny 1, L Jason 1, M Schoeny 1
PMCID: PMC1747892  PMID: 15333888

Abstract

Objective: To extend research on the relation of school based contextual norms to current smoking among adolescents by using three analytic techniques to test for contextual effects. It was hypothesised that significant contextual effects would be found in all three models, but that the strength of these effects would vary by the statistical rigor of the model.

Design: Three separate analytic approaches were conducted on baseline self report student survey data from a larger study to test the relation between school level perceived peer tobacco use and individual current smoking status.

Participants: A representative sample of 5399 sixth through eighth grade students in 14 midwestern middle schools completed the survey. All enrolled sixth through eighth grade students were eligible to participate in the survey. The student participation rate was 91.4% for the entire sample, and did not differ significantly between the schools (range 82–100%).

Main outcome measure: Thirty day cigarette smoking prevalence.

Results: A level 2 only model based on aggregated individual responses indicated that students in schools with higher average reported peer tobacco use were more likely to be current smokers than students in schools with lower average peer tobacco use. Using a level 1 only model based on individual responses indicated that the effect of school level perceived peer tobacco use on current smoking was significant when individual perceived peer tobacco use was excluded from the model but was non-significant when individual perceived peer tobacco use was added to the model. A multilevel model also indicated that the effect of school level perceived peer tobacco use on current smoking was not significant when individual perceived peer tobacco use was added to the model.

Conclusion: The analytic approach used to examine contextual effects using individuals' reports of peer tobacco use norms that were aggregated to obtain a context measure of the school norms may produce statistical artefacts that distort the association of the school context in general, and peer tobacco use norms in particular, with increased risk for current smoking beyond the risk associated with individual factors.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (84.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allison K. W., Crawford I., Leone P. E., Trickett E., Perez-Febles A., Burton L. M., Le Blanc R. Adolescent substance use: preliminary examinations of school and neighborhood context. Am J Community Psychol. 1999 Apr;27(2):111–141. doi: 10.1023/A:1022879500217. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson C., Burns D. M. Patterns of adolescent smoking initiation rates by ethnicity and sex. Tob Control. 2000;9 (Suppl 2):II4–II8. doi: 10.1136/tc.9.suppl_2.ii4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bauman K. E., Carver K., Gleiter K. Trends in parent and friend influence during adolescence: the case of adolescent cigarette smoking. Addict Behav. 2001 May-Jun;26(3):349–361. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4603(00)00110-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bauman K. E., Foshee V. A., Linzer M. A., Koch G. G. Effect of parental smoking classification on the association between parental and adolescent smoking. Addict Behav. 1990;15(5):413–422. doi: 10.1016/0306-4603(90)90027-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Breslau N., Peterson E. L. Smoking cessation in young adults: age at initiation of cigarette smoking and other suspected influences. Am J Public Health. 1996 Feb;86(2):214–220. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.2.214. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Incidence of initiation of cigarette smoking--United States, 1965-1996. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1998 Oct 9;47(39):837–840. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chaloupka F. J., Pacula R. L. Sex and race differences in young people's responsiveness to price and tobacco control policies. Tob Control. 1999 Winter;8(4):373–377. doi: 10.1136/tc.8.4.373. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clayton S. Gender differences in psychosocial determinants of adolescent smoking. J Sch Health. 1991 Mar;61(3):115–120. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.1991.tb05997.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ennett S. T., Flewelling R. L., Lindrooth R. C., Norton E. C. School and neighborhood characteristics associated with school rates of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. J Health Soc Behav. 1997 Mar;38(1):55–71. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Everett S. A., Warren C. W., Sharp D., Kann L., Husten C. G., Crossett L. S. Initiation of cigarette smoking and subsequent smoking behavior among U.S. high school students. Prev Med. 1999 Nov;29(5):327–333. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1999.0560. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gilpin E. A., Choi W. S., Berry C., Pierce J. P. How many adolescents start smoking each day in the United States? J Adolesc Health. 1999 Oct;25(4):248–255. doi: 10.1016/s1054-139x(99)00024-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jackson C. Initial and experimental stages of tobacco and alcohol use during late childhood: relation to peer, parent, and personal risk factors. Addict Behav. 1997 Sep-Oct;22(5):685–698. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4603(97)00005-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Moos Rudolf H. Social contexts: transcending their power and their fragility. Am J Community Psychol. 2003 Mar;31(1-2):1–13. doi: 10.1023/a:1023041101850. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. O'Loughlin J., Paradis G., Renaud L., Sanchez Gomez L. One-year predictors of smoking initiation and of continued smoking among elementary schoolchildren in multiethnic, low-income, inner-city neighbourhoods. Tob Control. 1998 Autumn;7(3):268–275. doi: 10.1136/tc.7.3.268. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Severson H. H., Ary D. V. Sampling bias due to consent procedures with adolescents. Addict Behav. 1983;8(4):433–437. doi: 10.1016/0306-4603(83)90046-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tyas S. L., Pederson L. L. Psychosocial factors related to adolescent smoking: a critical review of the literature. Tob Control. 1998 Winter;7(4):409–420. doi: 10.1136/tc.7.4.409. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Unger J. B., Rohrbach L. A., Howard K. A., Boley Cruz T., Johnson C. A., Chen X. Attitudes toward anti-tobacco policy among California youth: associations with smoking status, psychosocial variables and advocacy actions. Health Educ Res. 1999 Dec;14(6):751–763. doi: 10.1093/her/14.6.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wakefield M. A., Chaloupka F. J., Kaufman N. J., Orleans C. T., Barker D. C., Ruel E. E. Effect of restrictions on smoking at home, at school, and in public places on teenage smoking: cross sectional study. BMJ. 2000 Aug 5;321(7257):333–337. doi: 10.1136/bmj.321.7257.333. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wallace J. M., Jr, Forman T. A., Guthrie B. J., Bachman J. G., O'Malley P. M., Johnston L. D. The epidemiology of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use among black youth. J Stud Alcohol. 1999 Nov;60(6):800–809. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1999.60.800. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Winkleby M. A., Fortmanm S. P., Rockhill B. Cigarette smoking trends in adolescents and young adults: the Stanford Five-City Project. Prev Med. 1993 May;22(3):325–334. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1993.1027. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Tobacco Control are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES