5.32 Preventing smoking in more 'at risk' groups

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5.1 Introduction

5.2 Stages in the uptake of smoking

5.3 Factors influencing uptake by young people—overview

5.4 Physiological aspects

5.5 Individual personality traits and psychiatric influences

5.6 Intentions, attitudes and beliefs

5.7 The home environment

5.8 The smoking behaviour of peers, and peer attitudes and norms

5.9 The educational environment: achievements, aspirations and 'school connectedness'

5.10 Other drug use

5.11 Accessibility of tobacco products to young smokers

5.12 Affordability of tobacco products

5.13 Opportunity to smoke

5.14 Cultural background

5.15 Tobacco advertising and promotion targeted at young people

5.16 Products and packaging created to appeal to new users

5.17 Factors influencing uptake of smoking later in life

5.18 Uptake—a concluding note

5.19 What is meant by prevention?

5.20 Approaches to youth smoking prevention

5.21 Mass media strategies/campaigns

5.22 Interactive technology and multimedia

5.23 School-based interventions

5.24 Peer influence and education

5.25 Parent/family/home targeted interventions

5.26 Reducing tobacco access and supply

5.27 Reducing product appeal

5.28 Promotion and visibility of tobacco

5.29 Denormalising smoking

5.30 Taxation and pricing of tobacco products

5.31 Harnessing predictors of uptake to prevent smoking

5.32 Preventing smoking in more 'at risk' groups

Acknowledgments

References

While there are a myriad of factors that can affect smoking uptake, and any child is a potential future smoker, for some young people the likelihood is far greater, as evidenced in the high smoking rates among young Indigenous people, and among children of parents who smoke. Within tobacco control, there is a need for further research and strategy development to address tobacco use among groups of young people who are at greater risk or susceptibility to smoking.51

Although mass media campaigns are sometimes criticised for having a 'mainstream' flavour, evidence suggests that in combination with other comprehensive tobacco control measures, social marketing strategies can also be effective in targeting higher risk youth.337 Western Australian research with young Indigenous people found that many of their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours, and 'take-out' from the Smarter than Smoking campaign to date, mirrored those of the 'mainstream' target group.54 Nonetheless, it is critical that 'mainstream' media messages and other visual and written materials do not exclude or alienate priority population groups by virtue of the types of people, settings and activities portrayed. Moroever, for young people of Indigenous, lower SES and some CaLD backgrounds, social norms regarding smoking among family and friends lag behind those of the general population, and the momentum to shift these norms needs to be maintained.54

For further information see Chapter 8 (Tobacco use among Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders) and Chapter 9 (Smoking and social disadvantage). Cessation programs designed to assist specific higher risk groups are discussed in Chapter 7.