Study on adolescents’ smoking intentions: the influence of peer smoking and the mediating roles of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior

Background: Reducing adolescents' smoking rates is an important priority for global public health. Smoking intention is the most direct factor influencing smoking behavior and the best predictor of its occurrence. Smoking intention is influenced by peer smoking behavior, which strengthens adolescents' willingness to smoke. Understanding adolescents' smoking intentions and their influencing factors will be a key component of future tobacco control. This study aims to explore the relationship between peer smoking and adolescents' future smoking intentions, investigate the potential roles of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior in this process, and identify the pathways among these variables. Method: was used to investigate data such as students' basic demographics, awareness, and usage status of tobacco products. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the impact of peer smoking on adolescents' future smoking intentions, as well as the mediating roles of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior. Results: Among participants, 2,359 (51.1%) were male, and 2,258 (48.9%) were female. SEM showed a significant mediating effect of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior in the relationship between peer smoking and adolescents' future smoking intentions. This mediating effect consists of two pathways: the independent mediating effect of attitudes toward smoking behavior, and the chain mediating effect of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior. Through bootstrap testing, the standardized total effect was 0.233 (0.185-0.280), the standardized direct effect was 0.167 (0.119-0.216), accounting for 71.7% of the standardized total effect, and the standardized indirect effect was 0.066 (0.049-0.081), accounting for 28.3%. Conclusion: Peer smoking not only directly enhances adolescents' future smoking intentions but also indirectly reinforces this effect by altering their beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior. Therefore, conducting precise interventions targeting beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior can effectively mitigate the negative influence of peer smoking, thereby providing empirical evidence for adolescent tobacco control strategies.