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School Smoking Policy Characteristics and Individual Perceptions of the School Tobacco Context: Are They Linked to Students Smoking Status?

NCJ Number
228629
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 38 Issue: 10 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 1374-1387
Author(s)
Catherine M. Sabiston; Chris Y. Lovato; Rashid Ahmed; Allison W. Pullman; Valerie Hadd; H. Sharon Campbell; Candace Nykiforuk; K. Stephen Brown
Date Published
November 2009
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact on student smoking behavior of individual characteristics and school policy characteristics, using an ecological perspective.
Abstract
The findings on individual characteristics supported the main study hypotheses. Students were more likely to smoke if they had family members and/or friends who smoked. Also, consistent with the majority of previous research, students were more likely to smoke if they perceived more student smokers at their school; however, inconsistent with the study hypothesis, individuals who frequently observed other students smoking were less likely to smoke themselves. In addition, school connectedness was a factor in smoking. Those students who felt less connected to the school were more likely to be smokers. A school's failure to enforce smoking prohibition on school premises and assist students in overcoming tobacco addiction were linked to student smoking. These findings suggest that the school environment is important in tobacco-use control strategies and that various policy dimensions, notably enforcement policies, have distinctive links to student smoking. Study participants were 24,213 students (51 percent female) in grades 10-11 from 81 schools in 5 Canadian Provinces. Data were collected from student self-report surveys, school written policies on smoking, interviews with school administrators, and observations of smoking behavior on school property. 5 tables, 1 figure, and 38 references