Gender and Predisposing Attributes as Predictors of Smoking Onset: Implications for Theory and Practice

Abstract

Abstract The typically modest and short-lived outcomes for social influences smoking prevention programs might improve if programs were tailored to needs of high-risk youth. Longitudinal data from the Waterloo Smoking Prevention Project, Study 3 (WSPP3), were used to study degree of risk for the transition from nonsmoking to smoking during three transition periods: grade six to seven, seven to eight, and eight to nine, as a function of gender, predisposing attributes, and participation in a social influences program. Four dispositional factors were studied: rebelliousness, rejection of adult authority, personal dissatisfaction, and peer approval. Annual survey data from 3,566 youth were used in a proportional hazards model survival analysis to determine relative risk. All four dispositions significantly predicted transition for females, but only rebelliousness and rejection of authority did so for males. The degree of increased dispositional risk was consistently greater for females. Social influences pro...