Adolescents report both positive and negative consequences of experimentation with cigarette use

Abstract

Objective-To examine the physiological and social consequences that 9th and 10th grade adolescents experience as a result of experimenting with cigarette use, and whether consequences vary by level of experimentation and gender.Method-Data were collected between 2001 and 2004 from 395 adolescents attending two northern California public high schools. Analyses are limited to 155 adolescents who reported puffing on cigarettes or smoking whole cigarettes at any of four time points during the study.Results-The percentage of adolescents reporting consequences of smoking were as follows: any positive consequence (56%), felt relaxed (46%), looked cool (31%), looked grown-up (27%), became popular (17%), any negative consequence (56%), friends were upset (35%), trouble catching breath (29%), bad cough (26%), got into trouble (23%). Ten percent of adolescents reported only experiencing negative consequences, 11% reported only positive consequences, 45% reported both negative and positive consequences, and 34% reported no consequences. Greater levels of experimentation were associated with greater likelihood of reporting positive or negative consequences. Few gender differences emerged.Conclusion-Adolescents experience both positive and negative consequences of experimentation with cigarette use. Prevention and intervention efforts should acknowledge that positive consequences of smoking may occur and address how these consequences can be achieved through other behaviors.

‘If drugs does that to you, then I don't want it.’ Resiliency among non-marijuana using adolescents

“…Additionally, Snedker, Herting, and Walton (2009) found that in disadvantaged neighborhoods, deviant peers have a positive influence on non-drug use; while Winstanley et al (2008) concluded that self-reported neighborhood disorganization and social capital were associated with alcohol or drug use and dependence. Yet other research has found associations between depression, distressed neighborhoods, and drug use disorders (Green and Ensminger 2006;Schinke, Fang, and Cole 2008;van den Bree and Pickworth 2005).…”

“…These attributes are typically measured as drug use predictors (Anthony 2008;van den Bree and Pickworth 2005). Thus, cumulative risks (i.e.…”

“…It is an asset-based perspective that has been utilized to understand how adolescents avoid risk-taking behavior including delinquency (Miller-Johnson et al 2003;van den Bree and Pickworth 2005) and substance use (Gordon Rouse, Ingersoll, and Orr 1998;Green and Ensminger 2006;Ostaszewski and Zimmerman 2006). Within this framework it can encompass a multitude of factors that include: personality, family relationships, peer networks, and the environment.…”

“…Nevertheless, research typically focuses on what factors contribute to using drugs rather than avoiding drugs. Thus, researchers have found individual characteristics (Anthony 2008;Green and Ensminger 2006;Lee, Neighbors, and Woods 2007), peer networks (van den Bree and Pickworth 2005), family relationships (Anthony 2008;van den Bree and Pickworth 2005), and environmental conditions (Snedker, Herting, and Walton 2009;Winstanley et al 2008) to influence whether someone becomes involved in using drugs. More specifically, adolescents growing up in inner-city neighborhoods exposed to multiple risk factors including poverty, single-parent households, and community tragedies (Doll and Lyon 1998;Mash and Dozois 1996) experience more negative outcomes such as drug abuse, delinquency, and school failure than positive outcomes (Anthony 2008).…”

“…This tendency to overwhelmingly approach African-American and Latino adolescents and marijuana from a deficit perspective is commonplace (Bahr, Hoffmann, and Yang 2005;Lee, Neighbors, and Woods 2007;Svennson 2003;van den Bree and Pickworth 2005). Although informative, it is also incomplete.…”