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Social class and smoking at age 15: the effect of different definitions of smoking
1MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, 4, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, UK. helen@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk
Aim:
To explore whether the association between social class and smoking among teenagers varies according to the definition of smoking adopted. Design, setting and participants. A survey of 2196 15-year-olds in 43 secondary schools in the West of Scotland.
Measures:
Current smoking status and number of cigarettes smoked, and social class based on the occupation of the head of the household.
Findings:
'Current smoker' was the only category not significantly differentiated by class; the ratio of smokers from unskilled compared with professional backgrounds rose with increasingly stringent definitions of smoking.
Conclusion:
The extent to which teenage smoking is patterned by social class depends on the definition of smoking adopted.