Factors affecting Attempts to Quit Smoking in Korean Adolescents

Abstract

This study investigated the rate of attempts to quit smoking and related factors in Korean adolescent smokers. Methods: The findings of this study were based on the data obtained from the '2015 11 th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey'. The number of subjects was 5,123. Results: 71.7% of adolescent smokers in our study group had made previous attempts to quit smoking. Logistic regression analysis showed that the following significant factors were related to attempts to quit smoking: smoking amount (OR=1.78, 95% CI=1.42~ 2.23), experience of secondhand smoking in family (OR=1.16, 95% CI=1.02~1.32), experience of smoking cessation education in school (OR=2.05, 95% CI=1.79~2.35) anti-smoking publicity (OR=1.34, 95% CI=1.17~1.55), and close friend's smoking (OR=1.63, 95% CI=1.24~2.17). Conclusion: Smoking cessation policies and programs, especially those targeting adolescent smokers, should consider the factors mentioned above when designing new interventions or campaigns.

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Smoking Cessation Attempts in Korean High School Students Who Engage in Intermittent and Light Smoking

“…Of the social factors, having viewed an anti-smoking advertisement, having participated in school-based anti-smoking programs, having experienced passive smoking at school and in public places, having a close friend who currently smoked, and high perceived family socioeconomic status were positively associated with smoking cessation attempts. Regarding having viewed anti-smoking advertisements, the results from this study support previous research on Korean adolescent smokers, which found that anti-smoking advertisements significantly increased smoking cessation attempts [15]. Yim and Park [9] reported that exposure to anti-smoking advertisements was positively related to smoking cessation attempts, with a stronger relationship observed among light than heavy (more than 10 cigarettes per day) adolescent smokers.…”

“…In addition, students who participated in school-based anti-smoking programs were more likely to quit smoking. This result is supported by previous research showing that participation in school-based anti-smoking programs increased adolescents' smoking cessation attempts [10,15]. In particular, awareness of the short-term physical hazards of smoking from participating in school-based anti-smoking programs is known to further increase the strength of negative attitudes toward smoking [22].…”

“…In terms of psychological factors, adolescents with a perceived skinny body type [12,13] and low levels of subjective stress [13] were more likely to try smoking cessation. In addition, the absence of current depressive symptoms [10,13,14], not having any experience of alcohol consumption [12,15], and engaging in vigorous physical activity [10,13,14] have been found to be positively related to adolescents' smoking cessation attempts. In another previous study, health-related behaviors, including physical activity, were categorized as psychological factors associated with smoking and chronic diseases caused by smoking [16].…”

“…In addition, adolescents who viewed anti-smoking advertisements [10,12,14,15], participated in school-based anti-smoking programs [10,[12][13][14][15], saw warning labels on cigarette packets [17], or experienced passive smoking at home, school, or in public places [12,15] made more smoking cessation attempts than their counterparts. Additionally, adolescents without a currently smoking father and/or mother [13], sibling smokers [12,13], or close friends who smoked [10,[12][13][14][15] might make more smoking cessation attempts than adolescents with familial or personal relationships with current smokers. Furthermore, those with higher perceived academic achievement [14] and higher perceived family socioeconomic status [13] might make more smoking cessation attempts.…”

“…Additionally, adolescents without a currently smoking father and/or mother [13], sibling smokers [12,13], or close friends who smoked [10,[12][13][14][15] might make more smoking cessation attempts than adolescents with familial or personal relationships with current smokers. Furthermore, those with higher perceived academic achievement [14] and higher perceived family socioeconomic status [13] might make more smoking cessation attempts. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the psychosocial factors associated with smoking cessation attempts by high school students who were intermittent and light smokers, based on the psychosocial factors that previous studies found to be associated with heavier smokers' cessation attempts.…”