Starting young? children’s experiences of trying smoking during pre-adolescence

Milton, Beth; Woods, SE; Dugdill, L; Porcellato, L; Springett, RJ

Abstract

Although the risks smoking poses to health are now well known, many young people continue to take up the habit. While numerous crosssectional studies of adolescents have identified correlates of smoking initiation, much less prospective, longitudinal research has been conducted
with young children to gather their accounts of early experiences of smoking, and this study fills that significant gap. Quantitative and qualitative data, collected using questionnaires, interviews and focus groups, are presented from the pre-adolescent phase of the
Liverpool Longitudinal Study of Smoking. By age 11, 27% of the cohort had tried smoking, 13% had smoked repeatedly and 3% were smoking regularly. Rates of experimentation increased over time. Qualitative data revealed that curiosity and the role of peers were central to children’s accounts of early smoking. By preadolescence, children are at different stages in their smoking careers, therefore interventionsmust be targeted to their varied experiences.
Current prevention strategies often focus on restricting access to cigarettes, but a broad range of intervention measures is required which take account of the multifactorial nature of smoking onset. To be effective, policies that aim to prevent smoking must be grounded in
children’s lived experiences.

Citation

Milton, B., Woods, S., Dugdill, L., Porcellato, L., & Springett, R. (2008). Starting young? children’s experiences of trying smoking during pre-adolescence. Health Education Research, 23(2), 298-309. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cym027

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2008
• Deposit Date: Feb 26, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Health Education Research
• Print ISSN: 0268-1153
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 298-309
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cym027
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/her/cym027