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Pubertal Development, Choice of Friends, and Smoking Initiation Among Adolescent Males

NCJ Number
216440
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 35 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 717-727
Author(s)
Laurie A. Drapela; Janet L. Gebelt; Nick McRee
Date Published
October 2006
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between early pubertal development and associations with close friends who smoked, and smoking initiation among male youths.
Abstract
The study revealed that being more physically developed than one’s peers had no direct effect on adolescent boys’ uptake of cigarette smoking. However, it found that the effects of puberty on smoking were indirect, mediated by the number of adolescent’s close friends who smoked. Also, the study found that the effect of advance pubertal development on the number of smoking peers was most significant for the youngest adolescents in the sample. Regarding the delinquency literature, the results of this study are consistent with the elaboration of a causal chain between pubertal development, peer association, and delinquency hypothesized in 1993 by Terrie Moffitt. Smoking is a significant and growing public health risk for adolescents. The negative consequences of smoking demand additional research into the developmental and social factors that may be associated with the decisions of youths to start smoking. This study investigated the interrelationship between pubertal development and peer associations in a study of smoking initiation among 3,958 adolescent males. Table, figures, references