Tobacco use in Buenos Aires adolescents:

The aim of this study was to investigate tobacco consumption among adolescents in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and to investigate its relationship with sociodemographic variables and social desirability (SD). The participants were 302 schooled adolescents between 13 and 18 years old. 45.4% were female. Analyses showed that almost half of the participants (41.7%) had ever tried a cigarette and 27.2% of them were current tobacco users. Light users accounted for more than 62% of smokers while heavy users accounted for less than 3% of the sample. The age of onset was 10 years or younger for 34.9% and between 11 and 15 years for 51.6%. The majority of this sample could be classified as recreational users. In addition adolescents who reported having consumed cigarettes those who consumed at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and those who reported not being bothered by cigarette smoke showed significantly higher values of social desirability (SD) compared to the rest. The number of cigarettes consumed daily covaried positively and significantly with SD levels.