The association of normative perceptions with adolescent smoking intentions

Abstract

The social norms approach suggests that tobacco use among a referent population will reduce provided they are presented with accurate information about the perceived norms of that behaviour. This study investigated adolescents' perceived tobacco‐related norms on future smoking intentions, using a sample of 11–16 year olds (n = 804) from wave two of the Youth Tobacco Policy Survey. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse, simultaneously, the hypothesized normative model on future smoking intentions among both adolescent smokers and never smokers. While among adolescent smokers perceived prevalence, perceptions of the tobacco industry and risk from smoking were associated with future smoking intentions, among never smokers only perceived sibling approval was associated with future smoking intentions. The research highlights the need for more comprehensive anti‐tobacco related campaigns that incorporate messages and stimuli relevant to behaviour reflecting these normative types.

Assessing demographic differences in decisional balance for smoking prevention and temptations to try smoking among adolescent subgroups

“…Research studies on adolescent smoking initiation have traditionally used statistical hypothesis testing as the singular methodological approach for determining risks 16,18 . Further, the use of inadequate instruments in studies that assess cognitions and behaviors related to cigarette smoking in adolescence is likely introducing discrepancies in the knowledge of important correlates of cigarette smoking initiation in this group 16,17 . Statistical hypothesis testing has been criticized for nearly three decades, with many researchers asking for its eradication in the social sciences [19][20][21][22] .…”

“…The complexities of behavior acquisition; such as cognitions and behaviors relevant to smoking onset, may not be adequately assessed using a single item measure 16,17,23 . Donovan's 16 review of studies on substance initiation among adolescents noted the abovementioned problem as well as the lack of reporting on the psychometric properties of measures used in these studies.…”

“…The inconsistencies between research studies of risk factors associated with adolescent smoking initiation are problematic for the development of effective prevention approaches [16][17][18] . The effectiveness of prevention programs rests primarily on the inclusion of important risk factors related to the target behavior [16][17][18] .…”

“…This statistical inference method is used to determine whether or not an effect exists between a set of variables based on an alpha cut-off value (e.g. p < .05) [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] . However, alpha is highly influenced by large samples and likely to produce significant differences between variables, even if such differences are negligible 21,22 .…”

“…The effectiveness of prevention programs rests primarily on the inclusion of important risk factors related to the target behavior [16][17][18] . It must be determined whether or not demographic variables play important roles in adolescent smoking initiation.…”