The aim of the current study was to examine social goals as a moderator of the relationship between peer approval/use of alcohol and cigarettes and intentions to drink and smoke in early adolescence. It was hypothesized that perceived peer approval and use of substances would predict intentions to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol for adolescents characterized by strong communal or strong agentic social goals. Though specific hypotheses were not made regarding how social goals would operate differently across alcohol and cigarettes, given differences in rates of alcohol and cigarette use in epidemiological research (Johnston et al., 2005), and differences in social images of alcohol and cigarette users in early adolescence (e.g., smokers as rebellious and drinkers as social; Andrews & Paterson, 2006), it was important to test our hypotheses separately for cigarette and alcohol intentions.
