Abstract
Research in the area of adolescent smoking has shown strong support for the social influence role of friends and to some extent the influence of parents. The aim of this study was to determine if a developmental model designed for smoking education and prevention could be suitably applied to the influences on smoking and nonsmoking behavior. This study followed the smoking behavior of a sample of 937 New Zealand adolescents from 15 to 18 years old in order to determine if the sources of social influence changed over time and if they were different for smoking and quitting behavior. The results indicated that peer influence declined in late adolescence. Unadjusted for earlier smoking status, the predictors of adolescents' smoking status at 18 years old were (a) close friend smoked; (b) girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse smoked; and (c) the majority of people they mix with daily were smokers. However, when the change in smoking between 15 and 18 years old was examined, the influence of a close friend who is a smoker was less evident. The influence of a celebrity also increased in late adolescence. The results of this study are discussed with reference to future research and smoking education and prevention programs.