Factors Related to Smoking Initiation by Adolescents and a Causal Model for Early Smoking Initiation

Abstract

The fact that adolescents are starting to smoke at a younger age is an issue in Japan, but no studies have identified the causal relationship between factors affecting this early smoking initiation. The aim of this study was to produce a causal model of factors related to smoking initiation by adolescents and early smoking initiation. A specially prepared questionnaire containing 72 items extracted from previous studies as constituting factors in smoking by minors was administered to 215 students aged ≥ 20 years. All items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale according to how closely they were connected to smoking initiation. Exploratory factor analysis of factors related to smoking initiation by adolescents was performed, after which the data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The following five factors were found to affect early smoking initiation: self-disgust, growing up in an inappropriate home environment, reduction of norms consciousness for adolescents’ smoking, perception of smoking as stress relief, and inadequate knowledge of the dangers of smoking . The findings suggest that antismoking education for adolescents should provide more information on smoking, and that assessing the home environment and mediating in the parent-child relationship, increasing self- control of stress, emotions, and the capacity for self-regulation, and incorporating parents into antismoking education may also be important.