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Nicotine & Tobacco Research Advance Access originally published online on July 31, 2009
Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2009 11(10):1226-1230; doi:10.1093/ntr/ntp127
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Dating and changes in adolescent cigarette smoking: Does partner smoking behavior matter?

Robin J. Mermelstein, Peter J. Colvin and Sven D. Klingemann

Robin J. Mermelstein, Ph.D., Institute for Health Research and Policy and Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Peter J. Colvin, M.A., Institute for Health Research and Policy and Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Sven D. Klingemann, Ph.D., Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago

Corresponding Author: Robin J. Mermelstein, Ph.D., Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 West Roosevelt Road, Room 558, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. Telephone: 312-996-1469; Fax: 312-413-4750; E-mail: robinm{at}uic.edu


  Abstract

Introduction: Adolescents’ relationships can play an influential role in adopting, maintaining, or changing health behaviors. Previous research has suggested that adolescent dating is a risk factor for both concurrent and prospective tobacco use. This study extends previous research by examining whether a partner's smoking status moderated the relationship between dating and adolescent smoking.

Methods: Participants were 1,263 9th and 10th grade students who took part in a longitudinal study investigating the social and emotional contexts of adolescent smoking patterns. Adolescents were recruited into the longitudinal study based on prior smoking history. The presence of a romantic partner, the partner's smoking status, and the adolescents’ smoking behavior were assessed at baseline and at 15 months.

Results: Our findings indicated that a change in dating status from not dating to having a partner significantly increased the odds of the adolescent smoking at 15 months but significantly only for those who dated a smoker. This effect was especially pronounced among boys. All boys who dated a smoker smoked themselves. Among adolescents who smoked at 15 months, there was also a strong protective effect among boys for dating a nonsmoker, compared with either those who did not have partners or those with smoking partners; boys with nonsmoking partners smoked significantly less than those with partners who smoked or those without partners.

Discussion: These results highlight the importance of considering the smoking status of the romantic partner in the smoking–dating relationship in adolescents.

Received: June 2, 2009; Accepted: June 3, 2009
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