Changes in adolescent smoking behaviour and knowledge of health consequences of smoking

Strategies designed to prevent uptake or provoke cessation in adolescent smoking often include components educating adolescents on the health consequences of smoking. This paper assessed whether the level of knowledge an adolescent has about the health consequences of smoking (health literacy) covaried with changes in smoking behaviour over time. The data, derived from a 12-month longitudinal study of adolescent smoking, showed that smokers appeared to have a higher level of health literacy about smoking than non-smokers. The data suggested that health literacy was unrelated to uptake or cessation of smoking behaviour. Given the observed relationship between knowledge and change in behaviour (knowing smoking was bad for them had no effect on uptake or cessation) the assumed role of health education to prevent or provoke changes in adolescent smoking was challenged.