Related factors for the initiation of smoking in high school students based on the transtheoretical model

Objectives : This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the intention of smoking and its related factors in high school students. Methods : Our study subjects were 1,203 high school students who resided in one city and in one county region. We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey from June 7 to June 19, 2004. Both the decisional balance and temptation inventory showed high reliability estimates. We provided good fit for the 12-item decisional balance inventory and the 10-item temptation inventory by using a confirmatory factor analysis. We also used multiple logistic regression analysis to identify the major contributing factors for the intention to start smoking. Results : On the univariate analysis, the subjects who were female, the 2nd and 3rd grade students,the students in vocational high school, the ex-drinkers or current drinkers, and ex-smokers were found to be significantly more distributed in the groups with intention to start smoking. Except for the concept of the cons, the group with intention to start smoking showed significantly higher standardized T scores for the 7 concepts of decisional balance and temptations. On the multiple logistic regression analysis, the females, the 2nd and 3rd grade students, the students in vocational high school, the experience of cigarette smoking and low T score of the cons were significantly related to the intention to start smoking. Conclusions : The intention to start smoking in high school students was affected by various factors such as gender, the school grade and the experience of smoking. Therefore, further research should be conducted for providing the essential data for developing a brief instrument for selecting the groups with intention of starting smoking among adolescents.