Factors that influence adolescents to begin smoking -- and factors that keep them from starting -- will be studied by University of Colorado at Boulder researchers with a $136,915 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The study will be conducted by co-principal investigators Frances Costa and Richard Jessor of the Institute of Behavioral Science, along with research associate Mark Turbin.
"We are concerned about the long-term consequences of cigarette use," Costa said. "We're going to attempt to account for personality and environmental factors that either put adolescents at risk or protect them."
The researchers will examine data collected from 1,500 students over a three-year period, beginning when the students were in seventh through ninth grades. The students come from diverse racial and economic groups.
The researchers want to find out the relationship smoking has to problem behavior, such as delinquency and the use of drugs or alcohol, and to health enhancing behaviors like exercise and a good diet. They also will examine factors like relationships with peers and with adults, and students聮 expectations about doing well in life.
The framework for the study was developed by Jessor, director of IBS and a professor of psychology.
Information on these factors could then be provided to adults and communities to help adolescents resist smoking, Costa said. Studies show that if individuals haven聮t started smoking during adolescence they are unlikely to ever start.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation聮s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care.