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Abstract
Personal and social correlates of adolescent tobacco use have been widely studied but not among adolescents with diabetes. Perceived health, psychosomatic complaints, decision-making autonomy, self-esteem, and friends' smoking exposure were analyzed in relation to cigarette experimentation, current smoking, and quitting history in adolescents with and without diabetes. Study-defined rates of experimentation (56%), current smoking (22%), and positive quit attempt history (65% of current smokers) did not vary by health status. Perceived health was poorest and complaints were greatest for adolescents with diabetes who experimented with smoking; exposure to friends who smoke was also greatest among adolescent experimental and current smokers with diabetes. Additional research on the design and implementation of diabetes-specific tobacco control programs is warranted.