There has been an evolution in the focus of public health efforts to prevent tobacco use, from individual skills-building approaches to interventions designed to change the social environment. Recent state and national mass media campaigns reflect this evolution in their attempt to directly counter the social appeal of tobacco products, and to offer more appealing lifestyle alternatives. Data from the 1999 and 2000 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) offer an opportunity to examine the hypotheses underlying the social environmental approach. This presentation examines the association between the social environment and perceptions about social imagery and smoking uptake among adolescents. It begins by exploring recent work by the author on patterns of association between social influences and tobacco use differ by gender and age among adolescents, and then turns to alternative moderating factors such as race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. Findings from this study reinforce previous research indicating that social environmental factors, such as friends and family, directly influence smoking among all adolescents. We also found that social imagery, the about what is typical of a behavior or of those who engage in a behavior (i.e., that smoking is socially appealing), mediated the influence of social environmental factors. Our findings were based on analysis of the 1999 NYTS, and replicated using the 2000 NYTS. Participants will learn about the underlying assumptions and measures of social environmental approaches to tobacco use prevention, and the role of social imagery and demographic characteristics as behavioral determinants of smoking uptake among adolescents.
Learning Objectives: To understand social environmental measures of smoking prevention. To understand the role of social imagery and demographics as determinants of smoking.
Keywords: Smoking, Psychological Indicators
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: American Legacy Foundation
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.