ATTITUDES OF ASTHMATIC AND NONASTHMATIC ADOLESCENTS TOWARD CIGARETTESAND SMOKING

A comparison study was made between attitudes of asthmatic and nonasth matic adolescents toward cigarettes and smoking. Subjects were 67 asth matic 9th- to 12th-grade students, of whom 38 (57%) had active asthma with recurrent cough and/or dyspneic attacks and 29 (43%) had reactive airway disease and/or the least severe form of asthma expressed by re current cough. The control group included 62 nonasthmatic students fro m the same high school. All subjects completed a questionnaire to dete rmine attitudes, beliefs, and intentions regarding smoking. Their resp onses suggested that the group at highest risk of becoming smokers wer e those who had previously had asthma. The same adolescents had a more positive attitude toward cigarettes and smoking, a stronger intention to become smokers, and a self-image more closely linked with their pe rceptions of smokers. Thus, these adolescents may represent a high-ris k group for becoming smokers in the future.