Objectives: To examine associations between cigarette availability measures with trial (ie, first) use of cigarettes.
Methods: 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).
Results: 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.
Conclusions: Adult influences, including parental factors, may predispose a young adolescent to smoke.