Adolescent Smoking

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that the developmental period for today's adolescents can often be characterized by risky behavior. Today, teenagers will participate in smoking cigarettes, drinking, doing drugs, or having unsafe sex, all of which can carry negative consequences. The writer points out that nearly 80% of today's smokers began smoking before they were 18 years old. Further, the writer notes that smoking is the single largest preventable cause of premature deaths in the United States. With close to 5 million children, out of 70 million living today that will have premature deaths due to smoking, it is of utmost importance to determine their motives. The writer discusses what motivates adolescents to smoke despite the obvious negative health effects. The writer maintains that understanding reasons for smoking can help researchers understand just how much cigarettes impact participants' lives. The writer concludes that research can possibly prove that smoking is indeed addictive, helping end any myths about smoking once and for all.


Outline:
Smoking Beliefs
Smoking Studies - High school
Results - High school
Smoking Studies - College
Results - College
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In 2006, the University of Illinois at Chicago conducted an important study on the effects of nicotine, both positive and negative, in young smokers ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old. The legal age in the United States to purchase and use tobacco products is 18. Because of this, all participants were required to have parental consent as well as their own consent to participate in the study. As with any study, there was a control group that consisted of 27 nonsmokers. In order to qualify as one of the 45 smokers, the participants must have smoked at least 4 weeks and have smoked a minimum of 1 cigarette a week, but no more than 5 cigarettes a day. Nonsmokers must never have smoked in their lives.
"To accurately assess the impacts of nicotine and their respective effects on participants, the study used cigarettes of varying amounts of nicotine: a high-yield cigarette or a denicotinized cigarette."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chassin, L., Clark, C.P., Rose, J.S., & Sherman, S.J., (2001). From adolescence to adulthood: age-related changes in beliefs about cigarette smoking in a midwestern community sample. Health Psychology, 20, (5) 377-386
• Cooney, N.L., Litt, M.D., Cooney, J.L., Pilkey, D.T., & Steinberg, H.R., (2007). Alcohol and tobacco cessation in alcohol-dependent smokers: analysis of real-time reports. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, (3) 277-286.
• Hine, W.D., Honan, C.A., Marks, D.G., & Brettschneider, K. (2007). Development and validation of smoking expectancy scale for adolescents. Psychological Assessment, 19, (3) 347-355.
• Kassel, J.D., Evatt, D.P., Greenstein, J.E., Wardle, M.C., Yates, M.C., & Veillux, J.C., (2007). The acute effects of nicotine on positive and negative affect in adolescent smokers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, (3) 543-553.
• Piasecki, T.M., Richardson, A.E., & Smith, S.M., (2007). Self-monitored motives for smoking among college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, (3) 328-337.

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