Evidence of social contextual effects on adolescent smoking in South Korea

This study explores the effect of psychological and social factors on smoking behavior among male and female adolescents in South Korea. A cross-sectional analysis was carried out via multilevel logistic regression with pupils at the first level and schools at the second level. The data were collected in 2003 using a nationally representative sample of 3449 students from 100 South Korean middle schools. For both genders, adolescents were more likely to smoke if and when they had lower academic grades, had a higher disposable monetary allowance from their parents, had more friends who smoked, and if the smoking rate at their school was higher. Psychological factors, however, were not factors that significantly influenced smoking. Consequently, the principal contextual factors related to adolescent smoking are the smoking rates in schools and among peer groups. Thus, an antismoking campaign incorporating social environmental factors may be useful in reducing the rates of adolescent smoking.