Differences in smoking attitudes of adolescents and young adults

Abstract

This study employed the Theory of Planned Behavior to examine the differences between adolescent (n = 182) and young adults (n = 209) in their intention to smoke and examined possible differences. Analysis showed that young adults had more positive self-reported attitudes toward smoking than adolescents, had higher intentions to smoke, lower perceived behavioral control over smoking and perceived they were more informed about smoking. The Theory of Planned Behavior provided good prediction of intention for both young adults (R-2 = .70, attitudes, information, and past behavior significant) and adolescents (R-2 = .68, attitudes, past behavior significant). For both samples attitudes were the strongest predictor of intentions to smoke. Implications for understanding intention toward smoking between adolescents and young adults are discussed.