Predictors of Cigarette Smoking Behavior among Girl high school students in Seoul

서울시내 여고생의 흡연행위 예측요인에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study is to identify various predictors of smoking behavior among female adolescents. Data for this study was collected from 357 students enrolled in a female high school, a coeducational high school, and a vocational high school in Seoul from 1st to 20th July 1999 and this data was analysed based on descriptive statistics and logistic regression with the SAS program. The results were as follows: 1. The proportion of current smokers was 17.9% and experienced smokers was 34.2% in girl high schools. 2. According to the factors family, school, peer, social learning, and psychological factors, the predictable variables are lack of family attachment and function in family factors, school involvement in school factors, associating with smokers among peers and modeling and differential reinforcement of smoking in social learning factors, self-assertiveness, self-esteem, and depression in psychological factors. 3. According to all the factors, the main predictors were peer association, differential reinforcement of smoking, and lack of family attachment. These variables cause 48.4% of smoking behavior. To prohibit smoking among female students, this society should develop a program to focus on peer leadership about quitting smoking, acquirement of skills of refusal for smoking, counter conditioning, reinforcement management, and support system about nonsmoking.