Content area
Full Text
Introduction and background
The last decade has seen a significant change in attitudes towards smoking, largely as a result of the growing realisation of its negative impact on an individual’s health and society (Fry et al., 2008; Amos et al., 2009; Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 2016). This realisation led to governments adopting a more active approach, including introducing regulation and legislation (Department of Health, 2011). There is good evidence that this active approach has contributed to a decline in the smoking rates among adults and young people (Amos et al., 2009; Crogan and Bromley, 2013; Milton et al., 2008; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2010).
This is an encouraging trend. However, in the UK, over 200,000 young people still embark on a smoking career every year, over nine million adults smoke (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2013; Hopkinson et al., 2014), and according to ASH (2016), 96,000 people die from disease caused by smoking every year. Thus, the need to reduce smoking among young people remains a priority, especially given the significant body of evidence that a vast majority of adult smokers establish their pattern of smoking in their adolescence (Jackson et al., 2012; Office of National Statistics, 2013).
Various studies also show that the earlier such smoking habits are formed, the greater the risks to health and the harder it is to stop smoking (Fry et al., 2008; Royal College of Physicians, 2010; Crogan and Bromley, 2013). The route young people follow to becoming what Chassin et al. (2000) describe as “stable smokers” is varied. This habit can be established in a few weeks or may take several years (Amos et al., 2009), and just one cigarette increases the risk of young people becoming addicted in later adolescence compared to those who have never experimented (Jackson and Dickinson, 2004; Fidler et al., 2006).
The route and reasons why young people become smokers is complicated and includes a range of interrelated factors including self-efficacy (Ogden and Nicoll, 1997), self-esteem (Goddard, 1990; Pfau and Van Bockern, 1994), socio-demographic and socio-economic factors, gender and a need to look “cool” (Owen and Bolling, 1995; Conner et al., 2006; Plumridge et al., 2002;...