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School context variables and students' smoking. Testing a mediation model through multilevel analysis.
Daniela Piontek1, Anneke Buehler, Carolin Donath
1IFT Institut fur Therapieforschung, Munchen, Germany. piontek@ift.de
European Addiction Research
|January 10, 2008
Summary
School smoking policies, including bans and prevention programs, reduce student smoking rates. Individual student factors do not mediate these effects, suggesting school environment is key.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Adolescent Health
- School Health Policy
Background:
- Student smoking remains a significant public health concern.
- Understanding the impact of school environments on adolescent behavior is crucial.
- Previous research has explored individual and school-level factors influencing smoking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the multilevel associations between school smoking policies and student smoking.
- To determine if individual student characteristics mediate the effects of school policies.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional data from 3,364 students and principals across 40 German schools.
- Two multilevel nonlinear regression models were employed to analyze current smoking prevalence.
- Analysis controlled for individual factors and examined school-level policy impacts.
Main Results:
- Smoking bans and evidence-based prevention activities showed a negative association with student smoking prevalence.
- School policy effects remained significant even after accounting for individual student characteristics like peer smoking and school engagement.
- Individual student characteristics did not mediate the influence of school policies on smoking.
Conclusions:
- School context, specifically smoking policies and prevention efforts, significantly influences student smoking.
- Individual student factors do not mediate the impact of school policies.
- Findings suggest that individual variables may mediate family influences rather than school-based interventions.
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