Adolescent attributes and young adult smoking cessation behavior

Abstract

This study collected data five times between 1983 and 2002 from 400 participants who originally came from upstate New York. These participants completed structured interviews as did their mothers three times. LISREL analysis generally supported the hypothesized model. The results indicated that having parents who smoked and having low educational aspirations and expectations were associated with being unconventional, which, in turn, was related to having low emotional control and reporting more internalizing behaviors. Internalizing behaviors were directly associated with a lower likelihood of smoking cessation, as was parental smoking. Research and clinical implications are discussed and the limitations noted.

Figure 1

Obtained Model: Standardized Pathways (t-statistic) to Cessation of Cigarette Smoking at the mean age of 32 (N=400). Note: 1. GFI=.97; RMSEA=.037; CFI=.98. 2. Gender, age, parental educational level, and marital status at T5 were statistically controlled. 3. Participants’ mean age at Time 2 (T2)=13.8, at Time 3 (T3)=16.1, at Time 5 (T5)=27.0 and at Time 6 (T6)=32.0.