Peer group pressures, parental controls and cigarette smoking among 10 to 14 year olds

Results obtained from previous studies conducted in Britain indicate that secondary schoolboys who smoke are subjected to more peer group pressures and fewer parental controls with respect to smoking. In the present study, information obtained from 384 children in central Scotland suggests that 10 to 14 year olds who smoke/have experimented with cigarettes are generally more responsive to peer group pressures and generally less likely to take account of parental wishes and decisions with respect to a wide range of other activities. These findings--which were independent of age, sex and school catchment area--are discussed with reference to suggestions that children should be used as health educators. It is suggested that adult-orientated children--children who are most likely to support such ventures--are unlikely to discourage peer-orientated children from experimenting with cigarettes. On the other hand, it seems that the success of attempts to use peer-orientated children as health educators depends to a large extent on the success of attempts to discourage adults from smoking.