Smoking, Self-Image and Self-Esteem
According to the World Health Organization, self-esteem, self-image and tobacco use are directly linked. Adolescents who smoke tend to have low self-esteem, and low expectations for future achievement. Often they see smoking as a way to cope with the feelings of stress, anxiety and depression that stem from a lack of self-confidence.
Adolescent girls are more likely to cope with stress by "worrying," and then turn to cigarettes to cope with worry. Adolescents who see cigarettes as a way to handle negative feelings are more likely to ignore the long-term health consequences of smoking. Young non-smokers, on the other hand, tend to have higher self-esteem than teens that smoke.
Teen's attitudes towards their friends, classmates, boyfriends and girlfriends who smoke can make a difference to their own likelihood of smoking. Studies have shown that the single most direct influence on smoking among young teens is the smoking habits of their five best friends. Girls with a best friend who smokes are nine times likelier to become smokers themselves than those with non-smoking best friends.
Some teens believe that smoking cigarettes will improve their image, by making them appear more mature or "cool." Role models who smoke are frequently seen as tough, sociable and sexually attractive. For these teens, smoking is an attempt to improve the way they're perceived by friends and peers. Studies have shown that if peers do react positively to this strategy, then the new smoker is likely to continue smoking.
This attitude is not lost on tobacco advertisers, who portray smoking as a proof of adulthood, maturity, sophistication, popularity and sexual attractiveness. In the case of young girls, smoking is also equated with thinness - feeding on adolescent insecurities about body image. Being slim gives these girls self-confidence, and makes them feel fashionable. Surrounded by a culture that supports such beliefs, some teenage girls may see cigarettes as a way to attain these goals.
_____________________ Sources: Johnathan Samet and Soon-Young Yoon (eds.), "Women and the Tobacco Epidemic: Challenges for the 21st Century." The World Health Organization, 2001. Pages 55, 57.
