SMOKING AMONG TEENAGERS

Report by Eugenia TSAPENKO, Group 45-Ph

The purpose of this report is to find the main causes and sociopsychological factors which may cause teenagers smoking dependence. The information was collected from a group of more than 100 students aged 15-18 at the Naukova Zmina Lycee and the Scandinavian Gymnasium (both Kyiv, Ukraine). During the empirical research of psychological factors involved in teenagers smoking the following was found out: 1. The interrelationship between susceptibility to smoking and the level of self-esteem of adolescents is distinctively inverted: the greater is the level of self-esteem, the less a teenager smokes; the less is self-esteem, the more an adolescent smokes. 2. The interrelationship between the propensity to smoking and level of moral standards of the teens is expressively reversed: the lower is the level of moral standards, the more a teenager smokes, the higher are the standards - the less a teenager smokes. 3. The interrelationship between the teens propensity to smoking and the level of emotional sensitivity demonstrates the similar inversion: more sensitive adolescents smoke less than those who are less sensitive. 4. The interrelationship between the propensity to smoke and the level of dreaminess among teenagers is a pronounced inverse: the dreamier a teenager is, the less he/she smokes. 5. The interrelationship between the propensity to smoke and the level of independence of adolescents is distinctively inverted: the lower is the level of independence, the more likely is his/her tendency to smoke;

the greater is the level of autonomy, the lower is his/her propensity to smoking. 6. A direct interrelationship between the level of teenagers carelessness and the development of their tobacco dependence was found: the more careless they are, the more they smoke. 7. An inverted interrelationship between teenagers penchant for smoking and their receptivity to new (radicalism) was found on the level of a trend: the higher is the level of radicalism, the less likely is their tendency to smoke. 8. Another trend is formed by the inverted interrelationship between teenagers penchant for smoking and the level of their self-discipline: the higher is the level of self-discipline, the less likely is their tendency to smoke. 9. The interrelationship between susceptibility to smoking and the level of emotional stability of adolescents is also distinctively inverted and constitutes a trend: the higher is the level of emotional stability, the less likely is their tendency to smoke. 10.However, no pronounced interrelationship was detected between teenagers penchant for smoking and the existence of such factors as dominance, anxiety, intelligence, courage in social contacts, suspicion, diplomacy and tension. Therefore, we can portray a nonsmoking teenager as a self-confident but sensitive person with firm moral standards. He/she is quite imaginative and enjoys dreaming. This non-smoker is trusted by his/her parents and has a certain level of independence, which gives him/her stronger emotional stability. He/she is self-disciplined, and may be cautious, but at the same time ready for innovations.