Parents, Peers, and Trajectories of Cigarette Smoking: A Group-Based Approach

This study examines the independent, relative, and additive associations between both parent and peer role models and longitudinal patterns of smoking across adolescence and early adulthood. An analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( N = 10,166) reveals at least four distinct trajectories of smoking across ages 13 to 35 years: (a) nonsmokers, (b) late peak (almost 10 cigarettes per day around age 30), (c) an early peak group that reached roughly 10 cigarettes per day around age 20 and declined, and (d) a high group that increased during adolescence and early adulthood and then remained high. Parent and peer smoking behaviors were associated with trajectory group membership net of controls for sociodemographic characteristics, parental socioeconomic status (SES), parent–child relations, and the availability of cigarettes in the family home. Parents and peers appear to have at least some independent associations net of each other, but their combined effects are powerful.

Peer Effects and Youth Smoking in the European Global Youth Tobacco Survey

This paper investigates the effect of peer smoking on individual smoking among youths in 10 countries that participated in the European Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). I control for endogeneity in school selection and unobserved school-level characteristics through the use of school fixed-effects. I use instrumental variables to address the simultaneity in peer and individual behaviours. Identification arises by comparing students in different classes within the same school. On average, an increase in the share of classmates who smoke by 10 percentage points increases the probability that an individual in that class will smoke by 3 to 6.9 percentage points. The results imply that any policy intervention such as anti-smoking messages, smoking bans, or higher cigarette prices will be even more cost-effective because of the social multiplier effect of peers – policies affecting some individuals in a group will generate spillovers to others through the peer effect.

Differential Susceptibility of Peer Influences: Gene-Environment Interactions and Gene-Environment Correlations

This paper examines potential gene-environment interactions in responses to peer influences on tobacco use. Specifications found in the literature that link own use to school-level tobacco use suggest widespread interactive effects, where individuals with the short/short 5-HTT genetic variant have the largest responsiveness to peer smoking. However, I show that individuals are sorted into schools in ways that suggest important gene-environment correlations may confound these findings. Using an across-cohort, within school strategy to separate school level effects (including school selection bias) and grade-level peer effects, I find evidence of reversals of the baseline specifications, so that the results suggest that individuals with the long/long 5-HTT variant are most susceptible to peer influence, increasing the likelihood of smoking by 3 percentage points per 10% increase in peer smoking. These results are consistent with a broader concern that many gene-environment models may fail to fully account for gene-environment correlation.

The Effect Of Family And Social Environment On Smoking Behaviour In Adolescence

Background: Parental and peer smoking are considered major predictors of smoking in adolescence. We investigate the impact of family and social environment and parental anti-smoking socialization on the intensive and extensive margins of smoking for Greek adolescents. Method and Material: Information on 873 adolescents was collected through a self-reported survey and regression analysis examined associations with five different smoking outcomes (current/lifetime smoking status/intensity and onset). Subgroup analyses and interactions provided further insights. Results: Prevalence of adolescent smoking is high. Family and peer smoking habits and smoking restrictions at home reduce probability and intensity of smoking. Parental smoking increases probability of current smoking by 5% (95% CI: 0.01-0.09) as does having all your friends smoking by 30% (95% CI: 0.16-0.45). Parental anti-smoking advice delays onset of smoking by 0.76 years (95% CI: 0.15-1.39) but does not affect current smoking. Conclusion: Family and social environments play a significant role in preventing or promoting smoking and should be regarded as crucial factors when devising policy to curb adolescent smoking.