Abstract

Background: Gender differences in use of substances are decreasing. Aims and Objectives: Understanding underlie reasons for smoking in the girls is the key for developing effective policy aimed at lowering the prevalence of smoking among girls and young females.
Materials and Methods: In this conventional content analysis study, 11 Iranian adolescent girls aged 15–18 years old, was surveyed to explore their views about smoking. Through in-depth and semi-structured interviews, participants were encouraged to talk about their smoking behavior freely.
Results: The results of this study revealed the following themes: Showing off, Conformance, Seeking to remove gender differences, and Confrontation. Conclusion: Based on these findings, we discovered an adolescent girl’s smoking can somehow be a social activity mostly performed as a means whereby her social needs are met. Indeed, there is a parallel relationship between adolescents’ need for smoking and their psychosocial and developmental needs.