{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,30]],"date-time":"2026-10-30T18:35:16Z","timestamp":1793385316119,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772409600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Reducing adolescents\u2019 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\u2019 willingness to smoke. Understanding adolescents\u2019 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\u2019 future smoking intentions, investigate the potential roles of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior in this process, and identify the pathways among these variables.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was adopted to select 4,617 students from 16 junior and senior high schools in Cixi City as study subjects. The\n                      <jats:italic>2023 China High School Students Tobacco Use Survey Questionnaire<\/jats:italic>\n                      was used to investigate data such as students\u2019 basic demographics, awareness, and usage status of tobacco products. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the impact of peer smoking on adolescents\u2019 future smoking intentions, as well as the mediating roles of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>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\u2019 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\u20130.280), the standardized direct effect was 0.167 (0.119\u20130.216), accounting for 71.7% of the standardized total effect, and the standardized indirect effect was 0.066 (0.049\u20130.081), accounting for 28.3%.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Peer smoking not only directly enhances adolescents\u2019 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.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1775438","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T06:42:40Z","timestamp":1772433760000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Study on adolescents\u2019 smoking intentions: the influence of peer smoking and the mediating roles of beliefs and attitudes toward smoking behavior"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Liangliang","family":"Gong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Cixi Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Cixi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zanzan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cixi Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Cixi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liping","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cixi Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Cixi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhidong","family":"Rong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cixi Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Cixi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e082717","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-082717","article-title":"Smoking prevalence among adults in China mainland and their age of smoking initiation during adolescence: a 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