Do they know what they are doing? Risk perceptions and smoking behaviour among Swedish teenagers

Cross-sectional survey data on Swedish adolescents aged 12 - 18 was used to analyse perceived risks of smoking-related lung cancer, the determinants of these risk perceptions, and how these perceptions related to smoking behaviour. Three major conclusions were drawn: ( 1) that both smokers and non-smokers overestimated the risks of lung cancer, ( 2) that these risk perceptions fell substantially with age, but nevertheless implied risk overestimation, and ( 3) that individuals with higher perceived risks were less likely to be smokers but that risk beliefs had no effect on the number of cigarettes smoked.