Adolescent's Cigarette Risk Taking: An Interactional Model Including Parental Monitoring and Companionship with Deviant Peers

Adolescence is a critical stage for the onset of high-risk behavior of smoking. The present study investigated the role of parental monitoring and deviant peer companionship with regard to smoking in adolescents. The design of the current study involves correlation using structural equation modeling. The population of the study involves all male and female adolescents in Tehran high school، from which 1241 individuals were selected through cluster sampling. To collect the data، different scales such as Iran’s adolescent risk-taking scales، parental monitoring scales and finally companionship with deviant peers were used. The data were analyzed using correlation statistical indices، independent t-test and structural equation modeling. The obtained results showed that there was no significant difference between girls and boys in smoking risk-taking. In addition، parental monitoring for girls was higher than for boys; however، boys reported greater levels of companionship with deviant peers. Moreover، parental monitoring through companionship with peers had a significant effect on smoking. The mediating model can explain 10% of smoking variance. Attention to the role of parental monitoring in reducing deviant peer company and consequently reducing the risk of smoking by adolescents is very important.