Cigarette smoking among schoolboys in Beijing, China

doi:10.1006/jado.1999.0257

Journal of Adolescence

Volume 22, Issue 5, October 1999, Pages 621-625

https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1999.0257 Get rights and content

Abstract

The current study was designed to assess the recent rate of cigarette smoking and to examine the association of cigarette smoking with individual factors and problem behaviors using data collected in December 1997 from 323 middle school students (43% females) in Beijing, China. About 15% of the study sample (23% males and 5% females) reported having ever smoked. The data in the current study confirmed findings from our earlier study (Li et al., 1996, Substance Use and Misuse, 31, 545–563) that the prevalence of cigarette smoking among Chinese adolescents was higher among males, increased with advancing age and was associated with participation in other problem behaviors and with poorer self-perceived academic performance. The data underscore the need for smoking-prevention programs targeting Chinese children and adolescents.

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Childhood sexual abuse and its relationship with psychosocial outcomes among children affected by HIV in rural China
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Risk factors for adolescent smoking in urban and rural China: Findings from the China seven cities study
2008, Addictive Behaviors
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Friends' smoking and perceived smoking prevalence were risk factors for adolescent smoking in both urban and rural areas of China. These effects are similar in direction and magnitude to those found in previous studies in China (Grenard et al., 2006; Li, Fang, & Stanton, 1999; Yang et al., 2004; Zhu, Liu, Shelton, Liu, & Giovino, 1996; Zhu et al., 1992). More importantly, we found that low refusal self-efficacy was strongly associated with adolescent smoking in China, where offering a cigarette is a gesture of good will (Davis, 2000; Pan, 2004), a “wedding cigarette” is a necessity for guests at typical Chinese wedding ceremonies, and cigarette offerings are as common as shaking hands among men.
Cigarette smoking is rising among urban Chinese adolescents and poses a significant public health concern. The majority of Chinese youth live in rural areas, but most research on the risk factors for smoking has been conducted in urban areas of China. This study examined the associations between parental smoking, peer smoking, and low refusal self-efficacy and smoking among urban and rural Chinese youth.
This analysis used a cross-sectional sample of 3412 ninth grade students in urban and rural areas under the administrative jurisdiction of seven large cities in China. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to associate the risk factors with lifetime and current smoking, separately in boys and girls.
Adolescent smoking was not strongly associated with parental smoking. However it was strongly associated with peer smoking and low refusal self-efficacy across both the urban and rural samples. Students with lower refusal self-efficacy were approximately 5–17 times more likely to be lifetime or current smokers than those with higher refusal self-efficacy.
Smoking prevention interventions in China may need to focus on raising adolescents' refusal self-efficacy.
Tobacco use among youth and adults in Mainland China: The China Seven Cities Study
2006, Public Health
The China Seven Cities Study (CSCS) monitors geographic and temporal trends in tobacco use among adolescents and adults in seven cities throughout Mainland China: Harbin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Chengdu, Kunming, Hangzhou, and Qingdao. This article presents the methodology and prevalence data from the baseline survey of the CSCS, conducted in 2002.
Stratified random samples of middle schools, high schools, and colleges were selected within each city. Students and their parents completed self-report surveys of their tobacco use. Data were obtained from 6138 middle school students, 5848 academic high school students, 2448 vocational high school students, 2556 college students, and 25 697 parents.
Smoking prevalence varied across age groups, school types, genders, and cities. Past-month smoking prevalence was 9% among middle school students, 8% among academic high school students, 26% among vocational high school students, 21% among college students, and 40% among parents. Smoking prevalence was higher among males than among females, with larger gender disparities among adults than among youth. Smoking also varied across cities, with higher smoking prevalence in southwestern cities and lower prevalence in coastal cities. Intraclass correlations of students within schools are presented to inform statistical power estimates for further research in China.
These results provide a baseline for future longitudinal studies of smoking in these cities and identify demographic groups at risk for tobacco-related disease. Effective smoking prevention programmes for youth and smoking cessation programmes for adults are needed in China, especially in the lower-income southwestern cities and in vocational high schools throughout the country.
Are private school students more likely to smoke than public school students in China?
2006, Preventive Medicine
Tobacco use is prevalent among adolescents in China in general, however, little is known about tobacco use among students in private schools with an enrollment of 1.5 million.
In 2001, cross-sectional survey data from 2725 students in grades seven and eight (1307 sampled from private schools and 1418 sampled from public schools) were included. Smoking measures (risk of susceptibility to smoking, smoking onset, ever smoking, smoking in the past 7 days and past 30 days, established smoking) were compared between private and public school students using chi-square test, logistic regression, and survival analysis.
Cigarette smoking was more prevalent among private school students than among public school students (private vs. public: 21.9% vs. 12.3% for susceptibility to smoking, 53.9% vs. 38.2% for ever smoking, 22% vs. 12.0% for 30-day smoking, 15.9% vs. 4.0% for 7-day smoking, 4.5% vs. 1.2% for established smoking). Students in private schools are 3.4 to 3.8 times more likely to smoke than students in public schools after the adjustment of important covariates (gender, grade, peer smoking, parental smoking, and parents' occupation). Risk of smoking onset by age was also greater for private school students than for public school students.
Being in private schools was associated with three to four times increases in the likelihood of current cigarette smoking and heightened risk of smoking onset by age. Findings from this study suggest the urgent need to collect additional data on risk and protective factors as well as the willingness to participate in effective tobacco use intervention prevention among private school students.
Perceived smoking norms, socioenvironmental factors, personal attitudes and adolescent smoking in China: A mediation analysis with longitudinal data
2006, Journal of Adolescent Health
To gather information on inter-relationships among risk factors affecting adolescent smoking for tobacco control in China, the world’s largest tobacco producer and consumer.
Longitudinal data were collected six months apart in 2003 from 813 students in grades 7, 8, 10, and 11 from two schools in Beijing, China. Linear regression was used to assess both the direct effect from predictor variables (smoking among influential others, pro-tobacco media, and attitudes toward smoking) on cigarette use and the indirect effect mediated through the perceived smoking norms (percentage of smokers among peers).
Among the 803 subjects (mean age of 15.5 years, SD = 1.7; 52.1% female), 18.3% of males and 1.7% of females smoked in the past 30 days. Smoking among influential others (best friends, father, mother, male teachers, female teachers, and adults in general) and perceived positive psychological and social rewards from smoking at baseline were associated with number of cigarettes smoked at follow-up, whereas exposure to pro-tobacco media was not significantly associated with smoking. The mediated effect was greater for adult smoking (70% to 90%) than for best friend smoking (11% to 16%).
Smoking among influential others and attitudes toward smoking influence adolescent smoking both directly and indirectly. The finding of the indirect effect mediated through perceived smoking norms expands our knowledge on smoking etiology. Effective adolescent smoking intervention programs in China need to include a component targeting adult smoking to reduce perceived smoking norms.
Family characteristics and smoking among urban and rural adolescents living in China
2005, Preventive Medicine
Background. Adolescent smoking is a public health concern in China. Although the family is an important social influence in China, few associations among family characteristics and adolescent smoking have been examined using Chinese samples.
Methods. Survey data on psychosocial variables and smoking were collected from a sample of 3629 7th grade adolescents (46% female; 54% male; mean age 12.7 years) in Wuhan, China. For adolescents, past 30-day smoking, family relationships, parents' negative sanctioning of smoking, parents' agreement with smoking, and parents' smoking behaviors are assessed. To account for the clustered data structure, hierarchical logistic regression analyses controlling for demographics (urbanization, age) examined the independent and multivariate effects of family characteristics for each gender.
Results. Girls are less likely than boys to report smoking and are more likely to report positive family relationships, and having parents with negative attitudes toward them smoking. Positive family relationships and age were strongly associated with smoking for both genders. No significant differences exist by gender.
Conclusion. These findings suggest that the quality of family relationships are important for adolescent female and male smoking in China.

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^f1: Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to Xiaoming Li, Ph.D., Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, PO Box 9214, Morgantown, WV 26506-9214, U.S.A. (E-mail: [email protected]).

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Regular ArticleCigarette smoking among schoolboys in Beijing, China

Abstract

Tobacco and deforestation in the developing world

Tobacco Control

Tobacco Tax in China, 1996

Regular Article
Cigarette smoking among schoolboys in Beijing, China