Peer Affects Smoking Behavior in Youth: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Broadly, the actual or perceived behaviors of social referents such as friends (also known as descriptive peer norms), have received a great deal of attention in studies of adolescent risk behaviors. Adolescents spend more unsupervised time with friends and peers, often at the cost of reducing time spent with parents, and begin to place greater importance on the opinions, acceptance, comfort and advice of peers. As a result, they are highly susceptible to peer influence on risk behaviors such as smoking. This study aimed to investigate the effect of peers on smoking behavior in youth.