SMOKING

Smoking Journal Articles Review (CLO 5)

Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Article 1
Section 1
Source: HCT Libraries page >Discover>Electronic Resources
Search terms: Adolescent Cigarette Smoking
Section 2
Tittle: Peers, Schools, and Adolescent Cigarette Smoking
Abstract
Cigarette smoking is continuously receiving international recognition as the most
preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Awareness
campaigns on tobacco use and related health consequences are ripe with the
recent smoking-related cancer cases. Despite these efforts, though, there is still an
upward trend in adolescent smoking tendencies, with approximately a million
adolescents developing this habit each year. Though not all these youths continue
smoking into adulthood, studies suggest that about 80 to 90 percent of adult
smokers developed the habit by the age of 18. This fact makes cigarette smoking a
pediatric disease and is equally a wake-up call for us to shift our focus into
rescuing the future of humanity. It is common knowledge that teens spend the
majority of their time at school with their peers and are, thus, more likely to pick
certain habits from these interactions than from any other exposures. A study into
the various factors that may allow for the spread of this poor habits a good start at
saving our younger generation. Further, previous studies also established an
increase in smoking prevalence in minors despite a steady declining trend in
adults. A finding that further implies that adolescents must be picking up this
unfortunate habit from other sources other than from parents or elders. The
outcome of this investigation reveals a high correlation between adolescent
smoking and their peers smoking habits, school smoking prevalence and celebrity
student smoking.
Reference
Alexander, C., Piazza, M., Mekos, D., & Valente, T. (2001). Peers, schools, and
adolescent cigarette smoking. Journal of Adolescent Health, 29(1), 22-30.
Section 3
Population
The study involved 2525 American adolescents in Grade 7 to 12 who filled inschool questionnaires or in-home interviews.
Research Approach
The investigation follows a quantitative research design with rigorous metaanalyses. Data collection techniques included research questionnaires and
interviews. Outcome measures included current cigarette smoking, popularity, and

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school smoking prevalence. Age, gender, ethnicity, parenting and cigarette
accessibility at home were used as control variables.
Participant selection
The individuals selected for this research were established to meet the criteria of
an adolescent and a school goer. By employing the technique of stratified
sampling, 80 high schools were rounded up for study in proportion to their
relative sizes in the strata, urbanicity, racial composition and school type. On
further analyses, 13 schools were determined to meet the inclusion criteria, which
included, 50% response rate and valid student registration numbers, among
others.
Main Result
According to the research findings, other factors such as gender, age,
race/ethnicity, parenting and cigarette availability at home, the present risk of
smoking in adolescents is substantially linked to peer networks. The situation is
even direr in cases where the network consists of at least half of the cohort
smoking, increasing school smoking prevalence and when one or two best friends
smoke. Further, School where famous students were determined to smoke
exhibited high smoking prevalence than those whose popular students did not
smoke.

Section 4
Ranking: Best
Adolescent smoking is a growing problem worldwide and is among the top
frequently cited causes of morbidity and mortality among the young population. It
is also apparent that many factors contribute to the smoking initiation among
todays teenagers, including parenting, peer influence, environmental exposure
and advertisements.
This research is particularly very essential according to me, simply because it
tackles what I consider a significant influence to this current menace: peer
influence. Most young people spend a significant amount of their time either at
school or with friends after school and are more likely to pick certain habits from
them than from any other source. It is, therefore, important to create such
awareness to help in controlling and curbing this negative trend that threatens the
very future of humanity.
The study also employs various control measures, such as randomization of
participant selection, exhaustive control variables and thorough statistical
analyses to ensure that the results are accurate, valid and reliable. The exclusion
criteria were also strictly observed with schools that did not meet such
requirement being excluded from the computations just to ensure that the results
are accurate. For instance, two schools were eliminated simply because they did
not meet the requisite 50% response rate threshold and for including invalid
registration numbers.

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Article 2
Section 1
Source: HCT Libraries page >Discover>Electronic Resources
Search terms: Smoking in movies on adolescent smoking
Section 2
Title: Effect of viewing smoking in movies on adolescent smoking initiation: A
cohort study
Abstract
Tobacco smoking is apparently gaining popularity across diverse cultures. Recent
studies partly link this to the increased tobacco marketing, especially in motion
pictures. Celebrity smoking, especially those that depict smoking as an attractive
behavior has been established to promote adolescent smoking uptake. When a
cohort of 3547 non-smoker teenagers were selected for this investigation, 10
percent of the 2603 participants who the researcher managed to get back to had
initiated smoking. This experiment was highly controlled and any other
extraneous variable monitored. Each subject was also examined for the level of
exposure to this treatment by analyzing the number and duration of scenes that
depicted smoking in the movies watched. It was also determined that most of
these adolescents who had been influenced into smoking had non-smoking
parents. A fact which also suggests that the youths are more likely to be
influenced into initiating smoking by exposures other than their parental smoking
habits. The researchers assess this risk factor among adolescent against other
variables such as child characteristics, social influences and parenting
characteristics. A summary of measures are then tabled, statistical analyses
conducted on the preliminary results and inferences made.
Reference
Dalton, M., Sargent, J. D., Beach, M. L., Titus-Ernstoff, L., Gibson, J. J., Ahrens,
M., & Heatherton, T. F. (2003). The effects of watching smoking in movies on
adolescent smoking initiation: A cohort study. The Lancet, 362 (9380), 281-285.
Section 3
Population
The study involved 3547 teenaged aged between 10-14 years in Vermont and New
Hampshire, United States in 1999. The researcher was, however, only able to
make follow-ups on 2603 teens out of the initial number.
Research Design
This research follows a quantitative research methodology. Structured
questionnaire were used as the primary data collection method. A sample size of
3547 adolescents was selected for the study by a rigorous statistical sampling
technique. 13 to 26 months later after exposure, a follow-up investigation was

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conducted to determine the smoking status of the experimental group. The
outcome measure included a question on whether the adolescent had initiated
smoking. Finally, a Meta-analysis of the research outcome was carried out to
facilitate interpretation and inferential conclusion.
Participant selection
Selection criteria required participants to be between the ages of 10 and 14 years
and non-smokers. A random sampling method was used in the selection of the 14
schools in Vermont and New Hampshire, USA. This exercise was then followed
by a baseline survey, whereby self-administered written survey was circulated to
adolescents enrolled in the fifth through eighth grade.
Main Results
Evidence from the study suggested that viewing smoking movies promote
smoking tendencies and initiation in adolescents.

Section 4
Ranking: Second

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Article 3
Section 1
Source: HCT Libraries page >Discover>Electronic Resources
Search Terms: Parental smoking and adolescents
Section 2
Title: Time an adolescent spends with his smoking parents and his smoking
topography
Abstract
Several studies exist in the vast literature documenting the relationship between
smoking in adolescents and related risk factors, such as peers, school, media and
parenting. It should also be noted that hitherto, no such studies have been
conducted regarding smoking topographies like puff velocity and puff volume. It
has been determined that even though the amount of cigarettes consumed daily
increases the intensity of smoking-related sickness, smoking topography also
contributes to this immensely. The study hypothesizes high topography indices in
adolescents with high exposure to smoking parents. Randomization and
statistical sampling techniques were employed to select the participants and
administer treatment. These strategies were employed to ensure that the data
collected, results from the analyses and the interpretations made were accurate
and reliable. Correlation and ANOVA analyses were then conducted on the
results from computer-based observations and inferences drawn. This study,
however, had a major limitation with the measure of time spent with smoking
parents, a factor that was largely self-reported and retrospective. More accurate
measures and recording of the duration spent with parents is recommended in
future experiments to increase precision.
Reference
Collins, C. C., Lippmann, B. M., Lo, S. J., & Moolchan, E. T. (2008). Time spent
with smoking parents and smoking topography in adolescents. Addictive
Behaviors, 33(12), 1594-1597.
Section 3
Population
The study involved 67 adolescent dependent smokers aged between 13 and 17
years who had enrolled in a smoking cessation program at a research clinic in
Baltimore, Maryland.
Research Approach
This study follows a quantitative research design. Participants were expected to
fill in questionnaires with details of parental smoking habits, time spent with
their parents, smoking histories and demographics. This information was used as
the primary data in this evaluation. Using the results from a computer-based
assessment on smoking topography a series of meta-analysis were carried out to

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determine the correlation between smoking parents and adolescents smoking
habits.
Participant selection
Participants in this investigation were tobacco-dependent smokers who had
registered for a cessation program at the clinic. The participants were expected to
meet the criteria of qualified chain smokers of at least of six cigarettes daily for
the past six months before enrolment in the program, and whose parents were
also avid smokers.
Main Result
Findings from this study indicate a high positive correlation between the time
spent with smoking parents and the adolescent smoking topography (maximum
puff velocity). Teens and young adults who spend a considerable time with
smoking parents were found to score higher topography indices than those who
do not spend much time with their smoking parents.

Section 4
Ranking: Third