Academic Performance and Peer or Parental Tobacco Use among Non-Smoking Adolescents: Influence of Smoking Interactions on Intention to Smoke

Background: Intention to smoke is an important predictor of future smoking among adolescents. The purpose of our study was to examine the interaction between academic performance and parents/peer tobacco use on adolescents’ intention to smoke. Methods: A multi-stage stratified sampling was used to select participants, involving 9394 students aged between 9–16 years in Changchun city, northeastern China. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the individual effect of academic performance and peer/parental smoking behavior. Stratified logistic regressions were conducted to examine the protective effect of academic performance based on peer or parental smoking. Interaction effects of academic performance × peer/parental smoking on adolescents’ intention to smoke were tested. Results: Of all the non-smoking students sampled, 11.9% intended to smoke within the next five years. The individual effect of academic performance and peer/parental smoking was significant. The protective effect of academic performance on the intention to smoke was significant regardless of whether peers smoked or not. However, the protective effect was not significant among adolescents with only maternal smoking and both parental smoking. The current study found the significant interaction effects of academic performance × peer smoking and the academic performance × both parents’ smoking. Students with poor academic performance were more likely to intend to smoke if their peers or both parents smoked. Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest that peer smoking or smoking by both parents reinforces the association between low academic performance and the intention to smoke among adolescents. Enhancing school engagement, focusing on social interaction among adolescents with low academic performance, and building smoke-free families may reduce adolescents’ intention to smoke.