New study on youth smoking and perceived availability

An interesting study on predictors of youth smoking was published this week in the journal Annals of Family Medicine. The study examines whether perceived availability of cigarettes is a strong predictor of whether youth will start smoking.

The conclusion: yes. If youth perceive cigarettes are available, they are more likely to start smoking. The study also found that youth who perceived availability of cigarettes and who had smokers among their peer group were more likely to start smoking than those who have one or the other factor but not both.

There are some limitations with this study. First, as the authors acknowledge, self-reporting of problematic behaviors is not always accurate or dependable, and it is possible youth who smoked reported that they did not smoke.

Second, and perhaps more critically, this study stops short of proving a causal relationship, and shows instead that availability of cigarettes and future smoking are associated (hence the language about availability being a "predictor" of future use). There could be other factors at work in such an association. For instance, youth who perceive that cigarettes are available may be part of a social group or neighborhood in which cigarettes are more visible than in other areas, or in which youth smoking is less taboo. While the correlation between availability and future smoking is strong, it's important to remember that reducing perceived availability won't necessarily get rid of other problems that could be contributing to incidence of youth smoking.

There are positive outcomes to be taken from this research. It gives programs, families, schools and communities an angle from which to help prevent tobacco use from an early age, and examine further whether availability causes future smoking or simply predicts it.

Also, this research further strengthens the idea that tobacco use is correlated with social behavior. This helps build the case that social behavior is useful for helping teens -- or adults -- quit smoking. Another study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine this year, suggests that people are more likely to quit when part of large social groups that are quitting. Perhaps youth development can try this approach with youth who are already addicted?

Thanks to RoOobie for the Creative Commons photo