Exposure to tobacco and smoking may influence young people's perception of smoking and how common it is to smoke.
To understand whether young people see smoking as normal activity, respondents from the 2010 Youth Information Survey were asked to estimate the proportion of adults and people their age who smoke daily.
Methodology
All respondents were asked the following questions:
• Out of 100 adults in New Zealand, how many do you think smoke cigarettes at least once a day?
• Out of 100 people your age, how many do you think smoke cigarettes at least once a day?
Response options for both questions were ‘none (0)’, ‘about a quarter (25)’, ‘about half (50)’, ‘about three-quarters (75)’, and ‘everyone (100)’.
Overall responses are presented. Statistically significant differences (p<.05) in the aggregated response ‘at least one-half’ (combined ‘about half’, ‘about three-quarters’ and ‘everyone’) are then reported by:
• Parent/caregiver smoking status (those who had indicated that one or both of their parents smoked, compared with those who had indicated that neither parent smokes).
• Smoking status (current smokers: those who smoked at least monthly, compared with those who had never tried smoking).
• Smoking susceptibility (non-susceptible never smokers, compared with susceptible never smokers, as defined by answers to a validated measure of susceptibility to smoking uptake. The base was those who had never tried smoking).
• School decile (low: decile1-3; mid: decile 4-7; compared with high: decile 8-10).
• Ethnicity (Māori, compared with non-Māori).
• Gender.
A comparison of respondents’ estimates of the proportion of adults and young people who smoke daily is also presented.