Social Norms and Smoking Risk in iTaukei Fijian Adolescent Women

Abstract

Objective-To investigate the association of a variety of social smoking exposures with cigarette smoking among iTaukei adolescent women in Fiji. Methods-Self-report data were collected in a representative sample of school-going iTaukei adolescent women (n=523). We fitted logistic regression models of current cigarette smoking with school, peer, media, and other social exposures to smoking as predictors. Results-Current cigarette smoking was associated with exposure to close friend, peer, and routine social smoking as well as higher prevalence of school peer smoking, but not parent tobacco use and media smoking exposures-in our fully adjusted model. Conclusions-Peer and school-based smoking exposures may increase cigarette smoking risk in school-going iTaukei adolescent women and may be strategic interventional targets to augment existing preventive approaches.

The Viewpoints of Urban High School Male Students, Parents and Teachers About Cigarette Smoking by Adolescents: A Social Marketing-Based Qualitative Study, Shiraz, Iran

“…In the study of Ganeshasundaram and Henley (30), although all participants emphasized the lack of acceptance of smoking among family and society, as well as its negative effects on social prestige, they tend to relate with their friends, regardless of their smoking status. Although all three groups of participants emphasized the short and long term side effects of smoking, they reported the prevalence of invulnerability belief among adolescents, which are consistent with the results of some other studies (39)(40)(41). The parents and teachers were more concerned about addictive properties and physical complications of smoking for adolescents than those in the students.…”