Personality, Stress and the Determination of Smoking Behaviour in Adolescents

Smoking in Adolescence

The negative health consequences of cigarette smoking are now established beyond any reasonable doubt. Smoking has been convincingly and causally related to cardiovascular, peripheral vascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and malignant tumours of the respiratory system and the oral cavity. Smoking has also been consistently associated with a range of other malignant tumours. It causes emphysema and triggers attacks of asthma and bronchitis, and has been linked with a variety of gastrointestinal diseases including those of the pancreas. However while the large majority of these conditions become manifest only in middle or late adulthood cigarette smoking has its origins firmly in early or middle adolescence. ...