A comparison of high school students' smoking behaviours in 1968 and 1981.

A questionnaire survey was carried out among fifth form students in three Gisborne city high schools in 1968 and repeated in 1981. On an item concerned with smoking, 514 students responded on the first occasion and 583 on the second. Over time, there was a shift towards higher levels of smoking among females and lower levels among males, a finding that applied to both Maori and European students. Socioeconomic status was not related to levels of smoking for either ethnic group in 1968 and for Maoris in 1981; on the latter occasion, however, European students from low socioeconomic homes reported higher levels than those from high socioeconomic homes.