The Open Addiction Journal

2009, 2 : 12-20
Published online 2009 April 28. DOI: 10.2174/1874941000902010012
Publisher ID: TOADDJ-2-12

Sensation Seeking and Adolescent Cigarette Smoking: Examining Multiple Pathways in Cross-Sectional Data

Smita C. Banerjee and Kathryn Greene
Communication and Health Issues Partnership for Education and Research, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.

ABSTRACT

This study applies Jessor and Jessors problem behavior theory to examine factors predicting adolescent smoking behavior both directly and indirectly. Measures include adolescent smoking and other psychosocial variables including sensation seeking, peer smoking behavior, parental monitoring, and delinquent behaviors. Middle school students (N = 260) from two schools in the northeast United States participated in the study. The results indicate that sensation seeking and parental monitoring contribute to adolescent smoking indirectly, through the mediation of peer smoking behavior and engagement in delinquent behaviors. Peer smoking behavior and delinquent behaviors predict adolescent smoking directly. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords:

Adolescent smoking, peer smoking, parental monitoring.