Social Influences and Intentions to Smoke in Adolescent Smokers: A Mediation Model

Research on the Theory of Planned Behavior has previously demonstrated that, as measures of subjective norms, descriptive norms and normative beliefs predict intentions to engage in behaviors such as smoking. Descriptive norms measuring the prevalence of parent and peer smoking have been investigated as predictors of intentions among adolescent smokers. Normative beliefs representing parent and peer attitudes toward smoking have also been shown to predict adolescents\u27 plans to smoke. Within a sample of 356 adolescent smokers, the present study attempted to model the relationships between these measures of social influence and intentions using Structural Equation Modeling. Three emotional and cognitive variables- instrumental value, rebelliousness, and negative affect- were hypothesized to mediate the effects of descriptive norms and normative beliefs on intentions. Results indicated that the proposed model did not successfully account for relationships among included constructs. Parent attitudes, parent smoking, and peer smoking did not substantially predict variance in intentions to smoke, and the small relationship between perceived peer attitudes and intentions was only mediated by rebelliousness. Variance in intentions to smoke was, however, accounted for by rebelliousness, instrumental value, and negative affect. Based on these findings, future research may wish to determine if social influences predict intentions as a function of age or smoking status. Additionally, interventions to reduce rebelliousness, instrumental value, and negative affect should be developed and evaluated among adolescent smokers