Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Drinking and Their Social Relationship

Cigarette smoking has been prone to Filipinos due to the influences of the foreign culture. Alcoholic drinks are believed to ease the problems of the Filipino men and even women. As time goes by, younger and younger ages of Filipinos are engaging themselves to it. Filipinos are known for close family ties and our peer groups or “barkada”. “Among the high school students, majority of them are engaged to alcohol drinks at young age. Early in history, those who drink at a young age to excess were said to be irresponsible, immoral, and without character” Bobijes(2009). Alcohol dependency has the ability to affect the social relationship of an individual. In fact teenagers that have serious drinking problems have much higher tendency of smoking cigarettes. This practice can directly lead to another lifelong habit of substance abuse and addiction. This can severely damage the quality of life and permanently prevent the person from leading a healthy and happy life. Alcoholism is often blamed to be the precursor of depression and various mental illnesses, teens should stay away from this fatal habit at any cost.

Other people use alcohol as a tool to help them relax and deal with stressful social situations. Maybe they use alcohol in order to feel better in tense family settings or to help them overcome social phobias when they need to attend social functions related to work or dating. As with depression, the number of people who are alcoholic and who live with social phobias is remarkably high. Sadly, people who abuse alcohol, often behave in ways that cause others to withdraw from them society. Pretty soon, only others who abuse alcohol are within the social circle. Underage alcohol consumption has received a significant amount of attention as a major public health concern. High risk drinking in adolescence is associated with a variety of adverse consequences, including motor vehicle injury and death, suicide, sexual assault, high-risk sexual activity, and neurodevelopment impairment. Drinking in early adolescence is also known to increase the risk for alcohol dependence.

Background of the Study
“The activities, chemicals and processes that can prove physically or psychologically addictive are vast. Products containing nicotine, alcohol and caffeine; illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin; gambling; sex; and even video games are known to cause dependence. The life cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. They find this very difficult to deal with.” It shows how they seem to be engaging to such addictives. They find themselves relaxed when using some addictives and this causes them to stick with it whenever they will feel the same way again (Mentor Foundation 2009). We start off with an individual who, like most people in our society, is basically good. This person encounters a problem or discomfort that they do not know how to resolve or cannot confront. This could include problems such as difficulty “fitting in” as a child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure or work expectations, identity problems or divorce as an adult.

It can also include physical discomfort, such as injury or chronic pain. The person experiencing the discomfort has a real problem. He feels his present situation is unendurable, yet sees no good solution to the problem (Mentor Foundation 2009). Everyone has experienced this in his life to a greater or lesser degree. The difference between an addict and the non-addict is that the addict chooses alcohol as a solution to the unwanted problem or discomfort. This person tries alcohol. The alcohol appears to solve the problem. He feels better. Because he now seems better able to deal with life, the alcohol becomes valuable to him (Mentor Foundation 2009). The person looks on alcohol as a cure for unwanted feelings. The painkilling effects of alcohol become a solution to his discomfort. Inadvertently, the alcohol now becomes valuable because it helped him feel better. This release is the main reason a person uses alcoholic drinks a second or third time. It is just a matter of time before he becomes fully addicted and loses the ability to control his drinking. Alcohol addiction, then, results from excessive or continued use of habit-forming alcohols in an attempt to resolve the underlying symptoms of discomfort or unhappiness.

Statement of the Problem
The study attempts to find out the Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol
Drinking and Social Relationships of the Third Year High School Students of Alaminos National High School Academic Year 2012-2013. Specifically, it seeks to find answers to the following questions: 1.What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1age;
1.2gender;
1.3family income;
1.4number of family members; and
1.5order in the family.
2.What is the status of the respondents in terms of:
2.1cigarette smoking; and
2.2alcohol drinking.
3.What is the status of their social relationship in terms of:
3.1family relationship;
3.2peer relationship; and
3.3relationship with authority.
4.Is there a significant relationship between addiction to cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking and the respondents’ social relationship?

Hypotheses
Based on the researchers’ observations, the following hypotheses are formulated: 1.) There is no significant relationship between Alcohol drinking and Social Relationships of the Third Year High School Students of Alaminos National High School A.Y. 2012-2013 2.) There is no significant relationship between Cigarette Smoking and Social Relationships of the Third Year High School Students of Alaminos National High School A.Y. 2012-2013

Conceptual Framework

I.Social Relationships
•family relationships
•peer relationships
•relationships to authorities
I.Profile of the Respondents
•age;
•gender;
•family income;
•number of family members;
•order in the family.
II.cigarette smoking
III.alcohol drinking
Independent VariableDependent Variable

Figure 1. Research Paradigm
The figure above shows that the independent variable such as Profile of the respondents, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking has a direct relationship to the dependent variable such as Social Relationships.

Importance of the Study
This study will be significant for the following:
School Administration. For them to either prohibit or promote the usage of cigarettes and alcoholic drinks given their possible harmful effects. Teachers. For them to guide the students in the appropriate attitudes towards cigarettes and alcoholic drinks. Students. For them to know which could be better for them to do, engage themselves or not. Parents. For them to supervise their children in cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking. Future Researchers. For them to be inspired and motivated to conduct further studies in the same field with other variables.

Scope and Limitation of the Study
This study will focus on the relationship of the addiction to cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking to social relationships. This study will use the Third year high school students of Alaminos National High School A.Y. 2012-2013. The study includes results of the effect of their behavior to their relationships to their family and friends. The study is limited to the perception of the respondents; no test shall be administered Definition of Terms

The following terms that will be used in the study are defined operationally:
ANHS. Alaminos National High school.
Age. The length of time that one has existed; duration of life.
Gender. Refers to sexual orientation either male or female. Smoking. The inhalation of the smoke of burning Tobacco encased in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars.
Alcoholic Drinks. A liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent.
Social Relationships. Family and friend relationships.
Family Relationships. Relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption. Peer Relationships. Social relationships with your peers, the people equal to you in terms of age, social status, geographical location.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDY
The researchers’ seek studies and literatures that could be helpful in the whole research study. Age
Age is the length of time during which a being or thing has existed. According to the study of Smoke for What Organization (2007), all teenagers misbehave and act out at some point during their adolescent years. When a teenager becomes hostile or deliberately acts out for the purpose of causing harm, her aggression maybe an indicator of an underlying issue. Understanding aggression conduct disorders and the other disorders that cause aggression may help you better understand your teen’s action.

While adolescent emotions are often intense, uncontrollable and seemingly irrational, there is generally an improvement in emotional behavior with each passing year.
As a child gets older, the young associates with other who are approximately on his age are enjoying the similar status.
Very few pupils are smokers when they start secondary school: among 11 year olds only 1% are regular smokers. The likelihood of smoking increases with age so that by 15 years of age 12% of pupils are regular smokers.

Very little data about smoking is regularly collected for kids under 12, but the peak years for first trying to smoke appear to be in the sixth and seventh grades, or between the ages of 11 and 13, with a considerable number starting even earlier. For example, in a nationwide Monitoring the Future survey, 8.8 percent of eight grade students reported having first smoked by the fifth grade (ages 10 and 11), and 22.3 percent of eight graders tried smoking by the eight grade. Two out of three 12th-graders who were current smokers had started smoking by the end of ninth grade (Smoke for What Organization Manila, 2007).

According to Sober Recovery (2005), although some kids who become regular smokers quit before leaving high school, almost three out of every four regular smokers in high school have already tried to quit but failed. At any given time, fewer than one in seven high school smokers have even been able to successfully stop smoking for just 30 days or more. While only three percent of daily smokers in high school think that they will still be smoking at all in five years, more than 60 percent are still regular daily smokers seven to nine years later (http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/smoking.html)

Gender
The word gender is used to describe the characteristics, roles and responsibilities of women and men, boys and girls, which are socially constructed. According to the Sober Recovery (2006) gender of peers is a powerful influence on children’s social lives. Indeed. During middle childhood, children appear to operate with separate cultures.

When females abuse alcohol, they often encounter more problems than men. Women experience different morbidity and mortality rates from alcohol than men. Women suffer from an increased incidence of hepatitis, a higher mortality rate from cirrhosis, and an increased morbidity from alcoholic liver disease. Heart, brain and other liver damage from alcohol are also more prevalent in females.

Women drink less alcohol and have fewer alcohol-related problems than men. Women appear to be less likely than men to manifest certain risk factors for alcohol use and problems and are more likely to have certain protective factors against these problems: women perceive greater social sanctions for drinking; women are less likely to have characteristics associated with excessive drinking including aggressiveness, drinking to reduce distress, behavioral under control, sensation-seeking and antisociality; and women are more likely to have desirable feminine traits (e.g., nurturance) protective against excessive drinking. In addition, consequences of heavy alcohol use, or alcohol use disorders, appear to be more negative for women than men, at least in some domains: women suffer alcohol-related physical illnesses at lower levels of exposure to alcohol than men, and some studies suggest women suffer more cognitive and motor impairment due to alcohol than men; women maybe more likely than men to suffer physical harm and sexual assault when they are using alcohol; heavy alcohol use in women is associated with a range of reproductive problems.

Feminine traits are associated with less use and fewer alcohol problems. Undesirable masculine traits (aggressiveness and overcontrol) are associated with heavy and problematic alcohol use. Socially desirable masculine traits (instrumentality) are associated with fewer drinking problems. Patterns are generally the same for males and females. One study found that gender differences in gender role traits mediated gender differences in alcohol use and problems.

It is often argued that the main reason women do not drink more than men are that the social sanctions against drinking are greater for women than foe men. Women perceive that these social sanctions exist. In a national survey, women judged that 50% of other people would strongly disapprove of a woman getting drunk at a party but only 30% of others would strongly disapprove of a drunken man. The women themselves also were more disapproving of intoxication in women than in men (65% said they strongly disapprove of a woman getting drunk, whereas 58% strongly disapprove of a man getting drunk). Similarly, a study of adolescents found that girls reported more pressure from their friends against alcohol use than in boys. Other studies presenting participants with vignettes of men or women drinking alcohol or cola in a heterosexual dating context find that women drinking alcohol are rated by participants as more sexually available and aggressive than women drinking cola, but similar differences are not consistently found for men.

After an equivalent dose of alcohol, women have higher blood ethanol than men. There are multiple explanations for this. First, women are generally smaller than men so the same dose of alcohol leads to higher blood alcohol levels for women than for men. Second, women’s body water content is smaller than men’s per kilogram of body weight. Thus, a dose of ethanol will be distributed in a smaller volume of water in women than in men, leading to somewhat higher concentrations of ethanol in women’s blood. Third, the first passQ metabolism of alcohol in the stomach may lead to higher blood alcohol levels in women than men. In the stomach, alcohol is metabolized with the enzyme gastric alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The stomach thus acts as a barrier against the penetration of alcohol into the body, by retaining and breaking down part of the alcohol. Gastric ADH activity is lower in women than in men; one study found that for a given alcohol dose, men’s ADH levels were two times higher than women’s, and in turn, women’s blood alcohol levels were higher than those of men (http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/).

Family Income
According to a study conducted by the Urban Institute (2006), more than two thirds of children ages 5 and under from low income families spend a significant amount of time in child care each week. This is significant because the quality of child care available to low income families are much worse than that available to higher income families and the quality of the child care affects the child’s development. High quality center-based care is expensive and is simply not an option for many low income families. Instead, they turn to informal, sometimes unregulated child care.

Smoking is directly correlated with income level and years of education. Since the release of the first Surgeon General’s Report on smoking in 1964, smoking has become ever more concentrated among populations with lower incomes and fewer years of education. Whereas the highest income Americans once smoked at levels even greater than the poorest, they now smoke at barely half the rate of those of lowest income.

In general, lower-income smokers are not only more likely to start smoking but also less likely to quit than higher-income smokers. For example, the percentage of smokers who have quit is higher for those at or above the poverty level than for those below the poverty line. Similarly, the percentage of smokers who have quit is highest for those with college degrees and lowest among those with less than a high school education. One of the best ways to prompt lower-income smokers to quit is by raising cigarette prices through cigarette tax increases. Numerous studies have documented the fact that raising the price if cigarettes directly reduce both adult and youth smoking, particularly among low-income smokers. Most notably, smokers with family incomes at or below the national median are four times as likely to quit because cigarette price increases as those with higher incomes. While the big cigarette companies and some other opponents of cigarette tax increases argue that they are unfair to those with lower income, lower income communities are actually the major beneficiaries because they enjoy the largest declines in smoking and smoking-caused harms and costs (Urban Institute, Quezon City, 2006).

Low income populations benefit from the revenue raised by tobacco excise taxes but only if some portion of these revenues are dedicated to programs that deliver services to the underserved. Even more lower-income (and other) smokers would quit if they were able to get additional help, such as nicotine replacement therapies, other medications, counseling, and other support. Access to cessation services, however, is still quite limited, especially for lower-income smokers. According to a recent survey by the American Lung Association, only seven states offer comprehensive cessation benefits, including all FDA-approved cessation medications and group and individual counseling, to all Medicaid beneficiaries.

Forty-two states provide coverage for at least one FDA-approved medication and twenty-seven states provide some form of cessation counseling. However, every state that provides Medicaid coverage has at least one barrier to accessing coverage such as required co-payments which dissuade Medicaid clients from seeking assistance in helping them to quit smoking. Other barriers to treatment in the Medicaid program include requiring prior authorization for treatment, limiting treatment duration, and limiting the number of times people could access treatment. Additionally, more than 40 million Americans are without any kind of health insurance; and two-thirds of the uninsured are low-income individuals or low-income families.

Income inequality may have a contextual influence on the use of alcohol among younger adolescents. Findings suggest that economic policies that affect the distribution of wealth within societies may indirectly influence the use of alcohol during early and mid-adolescence. Multilevel logistic regression revealed that 11- and 13-year-olds in countries of high income inequality consumed more alcohol than their counterparts in countries of low income inquality (after adjustment for sex, family affluence and country wealth.) no such effect on alcohol consumption was found in 15-year-olds. Eleven-year-olds in countries of high income inequality reported more episodes of drunkenness than their counterparts in countries of low income inequality. No such effect of income inequality on drunkenness was found in 13- or 15-year-olds. Social Relationship

One of the ways which groups influence the actions of individuals is through the norms that develop within a group. In socializing to a set of norms and values, groups often pressure the members to conform.

The quality and quantity of our social relationships-whether they link associates, friends or family members-are the standards against which of as many judge the quality and happiness of our lives. We spend a tremendous amount of time worrying about present relationships, contemplating new ones, obsessions of the 90’s. Ironically, at a time when we hunger for closeness and will sometimes pat tidy sums of money to get it; our social relationships are fraught with difficulty.

According to Garry Hopkins, he has defined alcohol as the most frequently abused drug in the world. When it is used as a social drug, alcohol is sedative. The alcohol’s effect on the brain causing sedation or drunkenness, it causes a general loses of brain tissue. There is a specific condition of the brain called “alcoholic clementia”, in which individuals develop difficulty in swallowing, suffer unpaired problem solving skills and have difficulty in manipulating subjects. Family Relationship

According to Gaerlan, Limpingco and Tria, as cited by Landicho (2004) the home is the first and most significant agency that affects the life of the child. Home has a unique power that develops the child’s personality. It is in the emotional atmosphere of the home that the child encounter, the initial experience which determine whether he will have feelings of anxiety, hatred and defiance of authority.

The family is the institution most closely associated with process of socialization. Obviously, one of the primary functions are to care and love their children. Teenagers, adults and parents who smoke and keep smoking may face a lifetime of health problems that may result with one or more them contracting a fatal disease. Smoking cigarettes is a major cause of lung cancer and other serious illnesses. Some of these can be passed on to nonsmokers.

Involuntary smoking or passive smoking occurs when nonsmokers inhale the tobacco smoke of others. This includes both mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke. Mainstream smoke is smoke that is inhaled and then exhaled into the air by smokers. Sidesteam smoke comes directly from the burning tobacco in cigarettes. Besides tar and nicotine, cigarette smoke contains many nasty chemicals and poisons including carbon monoxide (the same substance found in car exhaust), arsenic (that’s what’s in rat poison), butane (which is lighter fluid), ammonia (floor cleaner), formaldehyde (used to preserve corpses), acetone (nail polish remover), and hydrogen cyanide (gas chamber poison). Second hand smoke contains all of these toxic substances. When you smoke around your family, you expose them to these substances. According to the Live strong article, that children of parents who drink excessively often experience depression, low self-esteem, stress and tension, and have a higher propensity for becoming alcoholics or drug addicts during adulthood. Children of alcoholics often have trouble concentrating at school and may experience difficulties developing personal relationships. Children of alcoholics may grow up feeling guilty that they could not help their parent overcome his drinking (http://www.livestrong.com/article/127045-effects-smoking-cigarettes-upon-family/). Peer Relationships

Angela Oswalt, MSW, edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D.
As previously mentioned, social and emotional maturity are intertwined. Therefore, as teens’ emotional maturity increases their relationships with their peers change as they become more vulnerable and emotionally intimate with their peers. This increased vulnerability and intimacy requires greater trust among peers. Thus, during the adolescent years, teen peer groups become increasingly important as teens experience more closeness in these friendships and more gratifying relationships with their peers as a result. Teens now turn to one another, instead of their families, as their first line of support during times of worry or upset. This increased reliance on friendships is yet another way that teens demonstrate their growing independence. Because acceptance by a peer group becomes so important, teens may modify their speech, dress, behavior, choices, and activities in order to become more similar to their peers. This increased similarity among peers provides them a sense security and affirms their acceptance into their chosen peer group.

The developmental theorist, Erik Erickson, described this developmental step as a crisis of identity vs. identity confusion. When teens modify their choices or behavior in order to conform to what their friends are doing, they are answering to peer pressure. Peer pressure is often associated with negative outcomes such as skipping school, wearing distasteful clothing, or alcohol and other drug use. However, many parents do not recognize that peer pressure can also exert a positive influence. Because of advanced cognitive and emotional maturity, teens can now encourage each other to make wise decisions, and discourage each other from making harmful choices. Since it is important for youth to “fit in” with their peer group they may also decide to participate in the same hobbies or activities as their friends. This enables them to spend more time together and to bond over shared experiences. In general, teens will gravitate toward peer groups with whom they share common interests and activities, similar cultural backgrounds, or simply a similar outlook on life.

But oftentimes, as teens experiment with their identity, they may be attracted to peer groups with very dissimilar interests. Adolescent peer groups are quite a bit different from the typical circle of friends that are characteristic of younger children. For instance, adolescent peer groups are closer and more tightly knit. This increased group cohesion is due to the changing quality of teens’ relationships. The increased vulnerability and emotional closeness of adolescent peer relationships require more trust; thus, there is a greater commitment and allegiance to their peer group. Increased group cohesion also serves to create a sense of interpersonal safety and protection. When youth have several good friends who remain loyal through “thick and thin,” they feel more secure and confident in their social support system. However, the increased loyalty and cohesion that is characteristic of adolescent peer groups can lead to several problems, particularly in the early and middle adolescent years. Cliques may form and some children will inevitably be excluded.

This kind of rejection is often very painful, particularly for very sensitive children. Other times, groups of youth may be negatively labeled for their characteristics or interests, creating tension and conflict between groups. For instance, many popular movies and television shows draw upon the classic conflict between the popular “jocks,” and the unpopular “nerds” or “geeks.” Conflict and extreme upheaval can also occur among friends belonging to different groups. Another problem associated with adolescent peer groups is these groups can lead to bullying situations. This may occur when there are disparate amounts of power between groups or between group members. Disparities in power may include physical, mental, social, or financial power. Research performed during the last decade has demonstrated that bullying behaviors are linked to serious and long-lasting emotional and behavioral problems for both the victims and perpetrators of bullying, including depressive symptoms and suicidality (van der Wal, de Wit, Hirasing, 2003; Bond, Thomas, Rubin, Patton, 2001).

By late adolescence peer groups may resemble a close-knit, second family and may provide youth with a large portion, if not most, of their emotional support. This may be especially true if youth reside apart from their families because of school or work, or if youth have separated themselves from their biological families because of conflict or other problems. In summary, during adolescence the number of close friendships decline, but the quality of these relationships becomes more vulnerable, trusting, and intimate. Meanwhile, the number of casual acquaintances continues to rise, as youths’ social networks expand due to sophisticated communication technologies, new recreational and social activities, new educational experiences, and employment.

Chapter III
The Research Methodology
This chapter presents the methods of research that were used in the conduct of the study. Included also are the description of research design, research setting, population and sampling technique, data gathering procedure, research instrument and statistical treatment of data. Research Design

This research is a descriptive study wherein the independent variables are assumed to have possible relationship with the dependent variable. Research Setting
This study will be conducted at Alaminos National High School located at Barangay I Alaminos, Laguna. Research Sampling
The respondents of the study are one hundred forty (140) third year students. Twenty (20) representatives came from each section. The study will be conducted during the second semester this academic year 2012-2013.

Data Gathering Procedure
The researchers will ask the permission of the school administration first to allow them conduct this study to the research locale. After being allowed, they will ask the principal of Alaminos National High School to let them conduct the study. The questionnaires will be distributed to the respondents who are asked to answer it and return the questionnaire at a given period of time. The retrieved data will be tallied, tabulated, treated statistically, and interpreted. Research Instrument

The researchers will be using a researcher-made survey questionnaire consisting of two (2) main parts. The first part will be about the respondents’ profile. And the second part will be about their perception towards cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking and their social relationships. Statistical Treatment of Data

To answer the problem of the study, the data will be subjected to the following statistical tools:
Simple descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage for the profile of the respondents. Point Visceral will be used for their gender, having only two variables.
The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient will be used to measure the degree of relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables. The significant relationship will determined at 0.05 level of significance using T-test.