Friends influence most to start smoking, not quit it: Research

If you thought friends would help one quit smoking, you're not wrong. However, research has found that they actually encourage you to start smoking more than they influence you to quit.

By: Agencies | | Published: June 12, 2014 5:28 pm

If you thought friends would help one quit smoking, you’re not wrong. However, research has found that they actually encourage you to start smoking more than they influence you to quit. Also Read - 'Casual' smokers may also have nicotine addiction: Home remedies to help you quit smoking

Also Read - Can vaping lead to smoking in teenagers? Here's what you need to know

‘What we found is that social influence matters. It leads nonsmoking friends into smoking and nonsmoking friends can turn smoking friends into nonsmokers,’ said Steven Haas, an associate professor of sociology and demography at Pennsylvania State University in the US. Also Read - Smoking cigarettes can worsen ‘severity of COVID-19 infection’

However, the impact is asymmetrical – the tendency for adolescents to follow their friends into smoking is stronger, Haas explained.

There are a number of reasons why peer influence to start smoking is stronger than peer influence to quit.

‘In order to become a smoker, kids need to know how to smoke, they need to know where to buy cigarettes and how to smoke without being caught, which are all things they can learn from their friends who smoke,’ Haas noted.

But nonsmoking friends are unlikely to have access to nicotine replacement products or organised cessation programmes to help their friends quit.

The findings may also apply to other aspects of adolescent behaviour.

‘This may apply well beyond smoking,’ Haas said, adding, ‘There may be similar patterns in adolescent drinking, drug use, sex, and delinquency.’

The study appeared in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Source: IANS

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Published : June 12, 2014 5:28 pm

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