Associations Between Secondhand Smoke and Mental Health in Korean Adolescents

Abstract

This study assessed secondhand smoke exposure among nonsmokers and examined its association with mental health in Korean adolescents. We used the 14th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2018 to extract data and analyzed 60 040 adolescents through 3 secondhand smoke exposure categories: home, school, and public places. Mental health included stress, insufficient sleep, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Secondhand smoke exposure was reported at 23.0% for home, 20.0% for school, and 51.4% for public places. Secondhand smoke exposures were associated with stress insufficient sleep, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, in the stratified analysis, secondhand smoke exposure was related to poor mental health in both nonsmokers and smokers. Based on the results, we concluded that Korean adolescents may experience poor mental health symptoms from being exposed to secondhand smoke.

Trends in Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Among Adolescents in China From 2013-2014 to 2019: Two Repeated National Cross-sectional Surveys

“…Overall, in 2019 the prevalence (on ≥1 day during the past 7 days) was 34.1% (95% CI 33.1%-35.2%) at home, which is higher than in the United States (25.3%, 95% CI 23.4%-27.3%), while the prevalence of exposure was similar on public transportation between the 2 countries (China: 23.4%, 95% CI 22.3%-24.4%; United States: 23.3%, 95% CI 21.4%-25.4%) [17]. The prevalence of exposure to secondhand smoke was 57.3% (95% CI 56%-58.6%) in public places and 63.2% (95% CI 62%-64.5%) in any place in 2019, which was higher than in many other countries [9,18,19]. In addition, nearly a quarter (24.7%, 95% CI 23.8%-25.7%) of adolescents were exposed to secondhand smoke in any place daily, one-tenth (12.4%, 95% CI 11.8%-13%) at home and one-fifth (18.7%, 95% CI 17.8%-19.5%) in public places.…”

“…In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, adolescents were more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke in the combined data set (2013-2014 and 2019) if they were in a higher school grade (ninth vs seventh grade: odds ratio [OR] 1.76, 95% CI 1.68-1.84), were boys (boys vs girls: OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.15-1.22), lived in an urban setting (urban vs rural: OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1. 19), and were a current cigarette smoker (smoker vs nonsmoker: OR 6.67, 95% CI 5.83-7.62). These results were largely independent of survey year (2013-2014 or 2019; Table 5).…”

Tobacco smoking, second‐hand smoking exposure in relation to psychotic‐like experiences in adolescents

“…The intensity of the effect of SHS exposure on PLEs varied according to smoking status, and the effect was greater for never‐smoking adolescents than smoking adolescents. One nationally representative sample of Korea surveyed associations between SHS and mental health among three types of smoking status adolescents (never smokers, former smokers and current smokers), and found that the effect of SHS exposure on stress and sleep deprivation was greatest for never smokers (Kim & Kim, 2020). High stress and insufficient sleep were found can exacerbate the occurrence and development of PLEs in adolescents (Mamah et al, 2021; Wang, Chen, Chen, Yang, et al, 2022).…”

Health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke in children: Pregnancy through Preadolescence

“…Secondhand smoke was reported at an alarming rate of 94.4% in their everyday lives including 20.0% at school, 23.0% at home, and 51.4% for public places. The end of the study showed Korean adolescents have a higher chance of experiencing poor mental health issues from being exposed to secondhand smoke (24,25).…”