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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on February 23, 2005
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsi026
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Journal of Pediatric Psychology © Society of Pediatric Psychology 2005; all rights reserved.
Received September 4, 2003
Revised March 15, 2004
Accepted July 7, 2004

Article

Images of Smokers and Willingness to Smoke Among African American Pre-adolescents: An Application of the Prototype/Willingness Model of Adolescent Health Risk Behavior to Smoking Initiation

Meg Gerrard PhD1*, Frederick X. Gibbons PhD1, Michelle L. Stock MS1, Linda S. Vande Lune PhD2, and Michael J. Cleveland PhD1

1 Department of Psychology
2 Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, Iowa State University, and

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Meg Gerrard, E-mail: mgerrard{at}iastate.edu


  Abstract

Objective This study used the prototype/willingness model of adolescent health risk behavior to examine factors related to onset of smoking. Methods Two waves of data were collected from a panel of 742 African American children (mean age = 10.5 at Wave 1) and their primary caregivers. Measures included cognitions outlined by the prototype model as well as self-reports of smoking by the parent and child. Results Structural equation modeling revealed a pattern consistent with expectations generated by the prototype model. The relation between contextual, familial, and dispositional factors--including neighborhood risk, parental smoking, and children’s academic orientation--and the initiation of smoking at Wave 2, two years later, was mediated by the children’s cognitions. Primary among these cognitions were the children’s images of smokers and children’s willingness to smoke. Conclusions Smoking cognitions mediate the impact of important distal factors (such as context, family environment, and disposition) on the onset of smoking in children. Perhaps more important, it is possible to predict onset of smoking in African American children as young as age 10 by assessing the cognitive factors suggested by the prototype model.

Keywords: prototypes; willingness; smoking initiation; African American; pre-adolescents.
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