Tobacco use among high school athletes and nonathletes: Results of the 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey - Statistical Data Included

Adolescence, Winter, 2001 by Merrill J. Melnick, Kathleen E. Miller, Donald F. Sabo, Michael P. Farrell, Grace M. Barnes

Athletic Identity Factor

As a result of their participation in organized sports, teenagers are likely to develop some variation of an athletic identity. For obvious reasons, the athletic identity is antithetical to that of a smoker. On the other hand, the smoking behavior of teens not involved in organized athletic programs may function as a signifier of teenage, quasi-adult authority. Thus, athletic participation helps youngsters associate with a peer group and a subcultural value system which nurtures and reinforces the athletic identity, while enhancing their social status in the process. Cigarette smoking devalues personal identity and status, and compromises the neat and conventional appearance many athletes seek (Escobedo et al., 1993).

Athletic Subculture Factors

In describing Jessor and Jessor's (1977) problem behavior theory, Wallace and Bachman (1991) write: "The theory hypothesizes that young people who are less invested in traditional versus deviant behaviors, who are more strongly tied to peers than to parents, who are alienated from society, who have low self-esteem, and who hold unconventional beliefs, values, and attitudes are prone to become involved in problem behavior" (p. 334). Clearly, background and lifestyle factors play important roles in the etiology of adolescent problem behavior.

How might membership on a high school athletic team deter tobacco use? If problem behavior is related to nontraditional activities and unconventional beliefs, values, and attitudes, what impact might team membership have on cigarette smoking? In high school sports, we have a traditionally conservative, highly valued activity capable of influencing the participant's beliefs, values, and dispositions in prosocial ways. Moreover, the "family" atmosphere of an athletic team, and the support provided by caring adult coaches and staff members, can help offset negative family background and lifestyle factors.

We speculate that these subcultural forces involve the participant in a social system that devalues nonconformist beliefs and unconventional attitudes and behaviors frequently associated with adolescent smokers. Related to this point, Glendinning and Inglish (1999) found that disaffected youth who held largely negative attitudes toward authority and control, especially with respect to school and community, were much more likely to report frequent smoking behavior. In contrast, "conventional" peer groups whose members were well-integrated into school and family contexts viewed cigarette smoking in largely negative terms.

Adolescent smoking is also related to social insecurity and social isolation (Evans, 1998). Membership on an athletic team can serve as an antidote to both because it is a situation "ablaze with communal possibility" (Novak, 1976). We speculate that rather than seek security and identity in smoking-related group behavior, athletes are more likely to satisfy their social needs through the social relationships available through membership in the athletic subculture.