Structural equation modeling of adolescent smoking intentions based on the Theory of Reasoned Action

The purpose of this study was to validate and extend the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), a prominent social psychology theory, as it applies to adolescent smoking acquisition within a representative national sample. Specifically, this study examined the ability of the TRA to predict adolescent smoking intentions in the presence of non-TRA correlates of smoking acquisition (e.g., smoking experiences, parent and peer smoking, and perceived smoking prevalence, etc.).; Subjects included 6,881 adolescents (ages 12 to 18) who participated in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey (TAPS). The TAPS was designed to assess household-demographics; smoking-related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors; smoking in subjects social environment; and known correlates of smoking behavior. Data were collected using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing procedure and were analyzed by LISREL 7, a structural equation modeling statistical program which estimates theoretical models through which structural relationships can be specified. Gender and ethnic subgroups were analyzed individually.; This study concluded that the TRA could adequately predict smoking intentions, but a higher level of prediction was achieved from an expanded TRA model that included three proximal antecedents of smoking intentions (i.e., listed by order of importance: subjective norm, past smoking behavior, and attitude toward smoking) and a causal path from subjective norm to attitudes. Also, the TRA mediated all of the effects from the non-TRA correlates of smoking behavior toward smoking intentions. In regards to gender and ethnicity, unique smoking acquisition processes were delineated for each subgroup by associated structural equation models. Females and African-Americans, compared to their male and Anglo-American cohorts, were associated with stronger predictive strength for intentions from subjective norm (i.e., perceived disapproval of smoking from parents and best friends) which originated from parent and peer smoking models. Lastly, it was concluded that African-American smoking intentions may be better predicted by factors not assessed by this study, due to large levels of unexplained variance and the absence of influence from past smoking behavior.; Discussion evolved around the need for adopting an expanded TRA model for understanding and explaining adolescent smoking behavior while allowing for gender and ethnic differences.