Motivations for cigarette smoking in schooled adolescents: analysis of discussion groups

Tobacco is the second most prevalent psychoactive substance after alcohol among students aged 14–18. This article examines adolescents’ motivations for smoking through their own discourses in semi-directed discussion groups. The subjects in our study were 131 young people aged 15–17 from nine secondary schools in Tarragona (Spain). The motives identified for tobacco use revolved around eight main dimensions: the pursuit of fun and new sensations, consumption as a rite of passage, consumption due to social contagion and peer pressure, smoking as a form of flirting, influence of the family microsystem (e.g. having parents who smoke), availability and ease of access, addiction and dependence, and low risk perception. Unlike in previous studies, no significant gender differences in smoking motivations were observed. This may be explained by the emergence of new models of femininity constructed on the basis of girls’ imitation of certain values associated with masculinity.