Abstract:

This paper examines the extent of cigarette smoking among 16 year old adolescents in Malaysian secondary schools. In particular, it examines the determining factors of smoking behaviours across several characteristics of the students and selected variables related to their aspirations and ambitions. A total of 4404 students participated in the survey comprising 1966 males and 2438 females. Overall, 13 percent of the respondents admitted to cigarette smoking. The proportion of smokers among males is 27 percent compared with two percent of the females. Almost 25 percent started smoking at 12 years or younger and that 35 percent smoked at least six cigarettes daily. The main reasons for smoking include stress and emotional problems, peer as well as parental influence. The data also showed the number of cigarettes smoked per day significantly increased with increasing hours students spent their time at the school library but decreased with increasing hours students spent on computers. Several variables related to the aspirations and ambitions were found to have significant influence on the number of cigarettes smoked per day among the adolescent smokers.

Keywords: