ABSTRACT
This chapter explores adolescents' use of cigarettes to moderate affect. It examines questionnaire results from the Sussex study in the context of published accounts of stress, coping and smoking. These studies raise the possibility that smokers perceive more stress in their lives and use different coping strategies as compared with non-smokers. The chapter discusses data from the London study indicate the functions that adolescents ascribe to their use of cigarettes. It also explores smoking and weight control in the context of young adolescents' views about their bodies. A logistic regression analysis showed that the gender difference in smoking prevalence is still maintained when perceived stress, problem-focused coping and cathartic coping are statistically controlled. The pleasure that adolescents gained from the use of cigarettes and the various functions that smoking served were distinctive themes that emerged from focus group discussions and family interviews in the London area study.
