Personality or Family: What Predicts Youth Tobacco Use?

Personality and Risk Behavior There are associations between early adolescents’ personality and important health outcomes: Psychological adjustment, coping strategies, risk behaviors (substance abuse, delinquency) Personality traits in middle childhood are predictive of likelihood of risk behaviors in adolescence and adulthood Depressive symptoms have been associated with adolescent smoking

The Five Factor Model of Personality 1. Extraversion 2. Agreeableness 3. Conscientiousness 4. Neuroticism 5. Openness Active, energetic, excitement seeking Kind, trusting Organized, responsible Anxiety prone, unstable Curious, Experimental Costa and McCrae, 1996

Risk and Personality Extraversion and Openness Agreeableness and conscientiousness Positive correlation with risk behavior Inversely correlated with risk behavior

Family, Home Environment and Risk Supportive family environments reduce the risk of health problems among adolescents Preadolescents and adolescents with positive parental socialization have less problem behavior, substance use and delinquency

Parental Monitoring and Risk Behavior Monitoring refers to: Parents’ knowledge of children’s whereabouts Parents’ awareness of Children’s activities Parents’ acquaintance with children’s friends Children with low levels of parental monitoring are more likely to engage in risk behavior Children with high levels of parental monitoring are more likely to engage in health promoting behavior

The Cultivation of a Smoker Living with a smoker in the family, especially a mother, greatly increases the chances a child will plan to smoke when they get bigger

Family Influence Children as young as three and four years old think smoking is “cool” if their parents do it, and plan to smoke themselves when they grow up Maternal smoking was associated with an 85% risk of the child being a smoker Children from parents with less than a high school diploma are more likely to be smokers Adolescents from families earning less than $20,000 annually are 30% more likely to smoke than those earning $20,001 to $30,000 Soteriades & DiFranzia, 2003

♂ vs. ♀ Tobacco Use and Gender Male high school students are significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco than female (10.8 vs. 1.4) Cigars are the second most prevalent type of tobacco used in high school % of males had used cigars compared to 6.2 % of females Male middle school students are more likely to use all types of tobacco, except cigarettes 6. Girls express stronger intentions to smoke than boys Centers for Disease Control, 2002

Why do Adolescent Girls Smoke?

The Story of One Smoker Andrea Foster has tried to butt out three or four times, but keeps going back to what is now her king-size, half-pack-a-day habit. Foster quit smoking while on summer vacation last year, but succumbed when she got back home and saw friends who still lit up. Last month, she cut back to one or two cigarettes a day, but then things at home hit a rough patch. She craved the calming effect of the smoke penetrating deep into her lungs. "Smoking cigarettes for me is really relaxing," says Foster. Sure, she knows that smoking kills -- who doesn't? "You think about it," she says of the health risk, "and it affects you, but I love smoking so much." Foster is 15 years old. She started when she was 13.

Why are Girls smoking more these days? While the anti-smoking message spreads, there are many explanations why it seems less effective on young women. They may be more inclined than males their age to respond to the tobacco industry Ads As more young women find jobs, they're no longer as sensitive to higher cigarette prices as they once were.

Smoking and Cultural Norms Smoking contributes to a young woman's identity formation Young women use it as a way to resist dominant culture and domination, and as a way to look like rebels. Smoking can also be an indicator of other risk behavior. Girls who smoke are more likely to be sexually active and drink; they're more likely to do a whole lot of things that are not 'boring' in the teen subculture. Winston ‘No Bull’ Campaign. “Yeah, I have a tattoo and no you can’t see it.

The Reasons Girls Smoke 1. To make friends and engage in social relationships 2. To rebel against parents, school, society and authority 3. To address stress (girls report higher levels of stress than boys) 4. To lose weight-body image to girls in developing countries is very important 5. Around age 10 girls feel less control over their lives and their destinies. 6. Girls raised in this generation expect equality and equal opportunity, but by age 14 and 15 may be disillusioned and pessimistic. They Choose cigarettes as a form of control.

Women and Smoking: A Brief History of Targeted Marketing WWI- Smoking is Patriotic and masculine. Elegant for men, but immoral for women Late 1920’s – smoking is a sign of liberation and rebellion for women 1930s – women who smoke are glamorous and sophisticated 1940s- cigarettes promoted as a sexual prop for both sexes 1950s - Evidence of the harmful effects of smoking became available- cigarette advertising becomes associated with health activities like skiing and cycling 1970s and 1980s – advertising shows groups of women socializing, laughing, having fun Late 1980s- Advertising to women focuses on stress relief/take a break 1990s/2000s - Marketing is dominated by themes of an association between social desirability, independence - Smoking messages conveyed through advertisements featuring slim, attractive, and athletic models. - Advertising is used in part to reduce women's fear of the health risks from smoking by presenting information on nicotine and tar content or by using positive images ( models engaged in exercise or pictures of natural beauty in the background)

Young Women and the Psychological Impact of Tobacco The issue of identity formation is important. It has been hypothesized that there are gender specific issues involved when young women start to perceive cigarettes as part of their identity. They may feel in control when smoking, but they also feel controlled. Young women receive mixed messages in the movies, women’s magazines and advertising. Young women often use women’s magazines as a source of health information, however, these publications rarely have articles on the negative effects of smoking.

Women and Nicotine Addiction Quitting is more difficult for women than men. At all ages, women tend to be more sensitive to nicotine and require less of a dose to become addicted. Women are more prone to depression after they quit, and are likely to report a greater number of -- and more severe -- withdrawal symptoms.