SOCIAL-CLASS AND ADOLESCENT SMOKING-BEHAVIOR

The paper examines class based differences in smoking behaviour in mid dle and later adolescence. The analyses are based on questionnaire sur vey data drawn from a longitudinal study of adolescent socialisation, leisure and lifestyles in Scotland. Perhaps surprisingly, the social c lass of the family is found to have little relationship to smoking in middle and later adolescence. By contrast, marked variations in smokin g are evident with respect to the current socio-economic position occu pied by young people themselves in middle and later adolescence. The c onnections between smoking, social class background, and current socia l class position are examined through a consideration of inter-generat ional occupational mobility, and once more a clear pattern of differen ces is found. Thus, we conclude that there is an emergent pattern of c lass based differences in adolescent smoking behaviour, as young peopl e make the transition towards adulthood. We consider the possible role that factors from the family, the peer group, and the school contexts may play in the production of these differences in smoking behaviour. We also highlight the importance that our findings may have for the h ealth inequalities debate, and particularly for explanations which lin k the production of class based differences in health to processes of inter-generational mobility.