School performance characteristics preceding onset of smoking in high school students
T. L. Young and K. D. Rogers
The cigarette smoking status of 1,442 high school students was determined
by questionnaire. Of the respondents (smoking and nonsmoking), 60% had been
enrolled in the same school system during elementary school. Thus, records
were available of school absence, grades, achievement tests, and IQ tests
during elementary school, prior to the time when the smokers had commenced
the practice. Smoking in high school was significantly related to high
absence rates, low achievement test scores, and low grade point averages
during elementary school years, prior to the onset of smoking. The IQ was
not significantly different in the third grade among pupils who became
smokers in high school and those who did not, but sixth-grade IQ scores
were significantly lower in students who later identified themselves as
smokers. Although smokers demonstrated these characteristics prior to
beginning smoking, the differences were not large enough to predict which
elementary school students would become high school smokers. The findings
support the view that smoking and these school-related characteristics may
both be part of a "smoker life-style."
