The $150,000 study was funded under NRMA Insurance's community development program.

In one of the biggest research projects of its kind ever undertaken, the study tracked the habits of 3,300 Victorian school-leavers over two years. They were initially surveyed at school and then at six-month intervals. The study was released at the 10th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Beijing in August 97 and sheds important new light on the habits of young Victorians. The report's author, behavioural psychologist Penny Schofield, said one of its most important findings revealed that smoking is an important accessory in some peer groups. Quitting cigarettes is akin to splitting with their friends.

"In many peer groups smoking serves an important function in maintaining group identification and differentiation between peer groups," Penny said. "Not smoking may have the effect of alienating the people from the group with which they identify."

"Smoking in some groups bonds and binds people together and is a source of pleasure," Penny said. "Encouraging them to give up is to encourage them to give up part of their identity." …. " it is like telling punks to dye their hair back to their natural colour!"

Penny works closely with public health campaigners like Quit and will use her newfound knowledge to help them target their campaigns more effectively.

"For instance, 1 can tell them they are wasting their time targeting young computer buffs or Buddhists - they have to take their campaigns to night-clubs and pubs," she said.

"What's more, 1 can tell them they have to be careful how they pitch their campaign because for some people smoking has social meaning. It is a way of bonding them to other group members."

In her report, Penny argued a whole range of things determine whether a young person smokes or not, but one of the most important seems to be which peer group he or she belongs to and how closely they identify with the group.

Her study found young people in groups which use illegal drugs are much more likely to smoke. So are those who love going to parties, night-clubs and pubs, and rebels, trendies, graffiti artists and those who play pool or ride motorcycles. On the other hand, she found teenagers who were studious, academic high achievers, sports lovers or religious types were much less likely to smoke cigarettes.

Penny studied more than 3,300 young people from a wide range of Victorian high schools, beginning when they were half way through their final school year.

As well as benefiting local teenagers, Penny's research will become a vital tool for health authorities in developing countries fighting major marketing campaigns by tobacco companies.

NRMA INSIGHT SPRING 1997