Why do smokers start?

Muttarak, Raya, Gallus, Silvano, Franchi, Matteo, Faggiano, Fabrizio, Pacifici, Roberta, Colombo, Paolo and La Vecchia, Carlo (2013) Why do smokers start? European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 22 (2). pp. 181-186. ISSN 0959-8278

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Most studies investigating the reasons for smoking initiation are based on adolescents or young individuals. We considered the issue in a large dataset on the general Italian population. Six population-based surveys on smoking were conducted annually from 2005 to 2010 on representative samples of Italian individuals aged 15 years or over, involving more than 3000 individuals each year. A specific question on the main reason to start smoking was asked to 7469 ever smokers. Overall, 59.9% of ever smokers started smoking before 18 years of age and 33.6% started smoking before 16 years of age. Among ever smokers, 61.1% reported having started smoking because of the influence of friends, 15.6% for enjoyment and satisfaction, 9.0% to feel mature and independent, 6.6% because of the influence of partner/family, 2.5% because of stress, 1.9% to feel more secure and 1.8% for curiosity. The finding that the majority of Italian men and women - particularly those who started smoking at a young age - started smoking because of the influence of friends suggests that antismoking campaigns should consider social influence, resistance and the dimension of self-esteem. An improvement in the legislation prohibiting the purchase of tobacco products by minors aged less than 18 years and a smoking ban in school courtyards are urgently required in Italy.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ever smokers,italy,population survey,reason to start,smoking initiation
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	09 Sep 2017 05:06
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 03:08
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/64788
DOI:	10.1097/CEJ.0b013e32835645fa

Actions (login required)

View Item