Results indicated that both male and female smokers perceived themselves as failing to meet the expectations of their parents and school. On the other hand, nonsmokers perceived themselves as more nearly meeting these expectations. (Author)

Studies indicate that adolescents smoke to obtain a desirable image, rather than from direct pressure from peers. Suggestions for using peer influence to make favorable changes in health behaviors are offered. (DF)

Results of participant observation study of eighty students indicates that smoking plays important role in determining school social status. Lack of such realization by establishment, and call for non smoking ideal student model who often is actually a smoker, create contradiction in moral organization of school, recognizable only to other…

In 1983 the Nebraska Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse began a project to develop and evaluate an educational program designed to discourage young people from taking up the smoking habit and to encourage those who smoke to quit. The second evaluation of this smoking curriculum had two components: a 1-year follow-up evaluation of the…

Cigarette smoking was found tobe significantly related to social status for females, but not for males. Smoking was closely related to peer group membership, and peer group memberships related closely to each individual's position in the social status system. A feeling of failure to achieve appeared to be related to tendency for ninth graders to…

This paper reports an investigation on the educational impact of warning labels on cigarette packages on adolescents. Subjects were asked to identify the locations of warning labels on cigarette packages and advertising and to restate the warning label. Results indicated that official warnings may be well known in general terms but poorly known in…

This paper describes an attempt to use a model of behavioral intention as a diagnostic tool to provide useful data for the preparation of health education programs for adolescents in the area of cigarette smoking. The theory of this model is that a person's behavior is a function of their behavioral intention which, in turn, is a function of their…

This report on adolescent tobacco use in Nebraska focuses on grades 8 and 10. The results presented are based on over time; (2) the changing nature of tobacco use from smoking to use as a chew or snuff; (3) the viewing of smoking and chewing as one health issue of tobacco exposure; (4) definition of a smoker for purposes of this study; (5) data…

This article reviews the scope and dynamics of heart, lung, and blood diseases and explains the need for research on primary prevention programs for children. Suggestions for school health education programs that contribute to disease prevention are delineated. (Author/DF)

Objective: To examine the role of expectancies in adolescent smokeless tobacco (ST) use. Methods: Self-report measures of students' ST expectancies, cigarette and ST use, and peer and family tobacco use were collected from a sample of 978 rural high school students. Results: Student expectancy beliefs significantly predicted ST use and intention…

Compared adolescent cigarette smoking rates determined by traditional questionnaire, random response questionnaire, and carbon monoxide test. Results from 1,160 ninth graders in 40 classrooms in 7 schools indicated that random response questionnaire elicited statistically larger proportion of smokers than did traditional questionnaire. Neither…

The extent to which smokers as compared to non-smokers recognize their failure to achieve was studied. The subjects were 80 ninth grade pupils, half of whom smoked. A nine point self-anchoring Expectation scale was developed to determine how closely the subjects came to meeting the perceived expectations of their parents, their school, their…

This research report describes alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among a representative sample of 7,187 Nebraska junior and senior high school students. The research is from an ongoing project: the Nebraska Adolescent Drug Use survey, which was initiated in 1982. The stated purpose of the project is to provide baseline and updated survey…