Adolescent Attributes and Young Adult Smoking Cessation Behavior

Abstract

This study collected data five times between 1983 and 2002 from 400 participants who originally came from upstate New York. These participants completed structured interviews as did their mothers three times. LISREL analysis generally supported the hypothesized model. The results indicated that having parents who smoked and having low educational aspirations and expectations were associated with being unconventional, which, in turn, was related to having low emotional control and reporting more internalizing behaviors. Internalizing behaviors were directly associated with a lower likelihood of smoking cessation, as was parental smoking. Research and clinical implications are discussed and the limitations noted.

RÉSUMÉ

Caractéristiques de l’adolescence et comportements d’arrêt de tabagie du jeune adulte

Dans le cadre de cette étude, des données auprès de 400 participants originaires du nord-ouest de l'État de New York ont été collectées à cinq reprises, entre 1983 et 2002. Ces participants ont pris part à des entretiens structurés, de même que leurs mères, à trois reprises. L’analyse LISREL est venue confirmer globalement le modèle retenu à titre d’hypothèse. Les résultats ont montré le fait que les parents fument, que leurs aspirations en matière d’éducation soient faibles et que leurs attentes soient associées à des attitudes sociales non conventionnelles était lié à un contrôle émotionnel faible et à la description de comportements plus internalisés. L’internalisation des comportements était directement associée avec une moindre probabilité de l’arrêt de la consommation de tabac, tout comme la tabagie parentale. La recherche et ses implications cliniques sont débattues, et les limites relevées.

ABSTRACTO

Atributos Adolescentes y comportamientos de jóvenes adultos en la cesación de fumar

Este estudio coligió data cinco veces durante los años 1983 hasta 2002 de 400 participantes que originalmente vinieron del Estado de Nueva York. Estos participantes completaron entrevistas estructuradas, así como sus madres, tres veces. El análisis LISREL generalmente apoyaba el modelo hipotetizado. Los resultados indicaron que el tener padres que fumaban y el tener bajas aspiraciones educativas y bajas expectativas se asociaban con ser poco convencional, lo cual a su vez se relacionaba con tener bajo control emocional y reportar más comportamientos internalizantes. Los comportamientos internalizantes se asociaban directamente con una posibildad más baja de la cesación de fumar, así como en el tabaquismo parental. La investigación y las implicaciones clínicas se tratan y las limitaciones se anotan.

Keywords :

• adolescent personal attributes
• parental smoking
• smoking cessation

THE AUTHORS

Dr. Judith S. Brook is Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, both located in New York City. She received her doctorate in developmental psychology from Columbia University and completed post-doctoral work in clinical psychology at New York University. Dr. Brook received the first Dean's Distinguished Research Award from New York Medical College in 1992. She is the recipient of a Research Scientist Award from NIDA. Dr. Brook is the P.I. or Co-P.I. on several grants supported by NIDA, the National Cancer Institute, and the Fogarty Institute, in the areas of epidemiology and prevention research. She has published over 250 research papers and is co-author of The Psychology of Adolescence and other books. Her current research focuses on the etiology and consequences of tobacco and drug use using a longitudinal, developmental perspective. Prior projects have investigated the psychological risk and protective factors involved in HIV transmission.

Dr. Stephen Marcus is a senior epidemiologist in the Tobacco Control Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute. Areas of expertise include: epidemiologic and survey research methods; measurement of tobacco use behavior, harm reduction, and the effectiveness of tobacco control policies; quality of care and outcomes research (for example, end of life care); genetic susceptibility (in particular, the identification of smoking phenotypes); systems thinking and methods in public health; and the evaluation of large research initiatives. He is also the Series Editor of the Tobacco Control Monographs.

Dr. Chenshu Zhang is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine. He received his doctorate in demographic economics and applied econometrics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is the statistician and co-author of over 30 research papers in the area of the etiology and consequences of tobacco and drug use using a longitudinal, developmental perspective.

Matthew Stimmel, M. A., is currently completing his doctoral training in clinical psychology at Fordham University. He works with justice-involved youth and adults, having completed his Masters Thesis investigating the links among specific trauma exposures, PTSD symptomatology and aggression in juvenile offenders. He is receiving specialized training in forensic psychology.

Elinor B. Balka, A.B.D., is an assistant research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine. She is the Project Director for a longitudinal study of a wide range of predictors and consequences of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among a sample of Puerto Ricans and African Americans who are now young adults. She is the co-author of several papers analyzing this data.

Dr. David W. Brook is Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, both in New York City. He received his M.D. at Yale University, and was a resident in Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. An addiction psychiatrist, he was Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at New York Medical College, where he served as Director of the Division of Drug Abuse Research, Prevention, and Treatment. He has served as both Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on a number of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, some of which have examined HIV risk in injection drug users and adolescent substance use and risk-taking behaviors. Dr. Brook is certified in general psychiatry and addiction psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and he is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He has published widely in the professional literature, and he serves on the editorial boards of several journals.