Availability of Cigarettes as a Risk Factor for Trial Smoking in Adolescents

To examine associations between cigarette availability measures with trial (ie, first) use of cigarettes.At Time 1 and one year later (Time 2), 478 adolescents completed smoking surveys. Trial smoking at Time 2 was predicted from Time 1 availability variables (prospective prediction), as well as Time 2 availability variables (cross-sectional prediction).Offers from friends/classmates were a significant cross-sectional predictor. In prospective analyses, greater perceptions of ease of obtaining cigarettes from parents and greater frequency of offers from an adult were related to trial smoking.Adult influences, including parental factors, may predispose a young adolescent to smoke.