Younger smokers on fast track to behaviour problems later

A new study which appears in the October issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health found thatteenagers who have tried cigarettes by theseventh grade are much more likely to become regular smokers and have behaviour problems as teens.
"We were struck by the degree to which early smoking appeared to indicate that kids were on the fast track toward a troubled adolescence," said Phyllis Ellickson, Ph.D., who led the team of researchers at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, Calif. "We wanted to find out what factors in early and later adolescence might help these high-risk kids avoid negative consequences."
The researchers collected data at 7th, 10th and 12th grade from 2,000 students in California and Oregon who were early smokers in middle school. They tested the students' saliva samples for tobacco and marijuana to ensure accuracy.
At the beginning of middle school, 30 percent of the early smokers had recently used cigarettes, 14 percent were smoking regularly and 21 percent had multiple school problems, the authors wrote.
Ellickson and her colleagues found that having peers who smoke was a strong risk factor for becoming a regular smoker. At-risk teens were two or more times likely than low-risk teens those who hadn't tried smoking by seventh grade to have peers who smoke and five times more likely to have had two or more problems in school.
"At grade seven, problems in school included being sent out of the classroom more than once, skipping school multiple times and absenteeism," Ellickson said.
According to study, by the end of high school, 36 percent of early smokers were smoking regularly and 58 percent had engaged in two or more problem behaviours, including binge drinking, abusing and selling drugs and dropping out of school.
The researchers found that teens who had not tried smoking by seventh grade were 1.5 times more likely to be those who had good grades and lived in an intact family.
Jeanie Alter, program manager and lead evaluator of the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University's School for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, said that prevention programs can benefit teens at risk and stressed that the parents' role is key.
She added, "Clearly, peers are an influential factor in the lives of young people, particularly as they progress through adolescence. However, it is critical to acknowledge the significant and sustained influence of parents. Though difficult to implement, program planners simply must involve parents and increase their disapproval of drug use."

Source: Medilexicon, 04 September 2008