Staying smoke‐free: Factors associated with nonsmoking among urban Aboriginal adolescents in the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH)

Abstract

The relation of individual, social, environmental and cultural factors to having 'never' smoked tobacco regularly was examined using Poisson regression.Results: Overall, 83% of adolescents had never smoked regularly; 13 reported current and five past smoking. Most lived in smoke-free homes (60%) despite 75% reporting at least one current smoker caregiver. Participants were significantly more likely to have never smoked regularly if they had good mental health (PR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.9), their mother as their primary caregiver (1.3, 1.0-1.6), good family relationships (1.2, 1.0-1.5), stable housing (1.3, 1.1-1.7), had never used alcohol (1.8, 1.3-2.4), were not sexually active (3.1, 1.3-7.2) and had no criminal justice interactions (1.8, 1.2-2.8). Conclusions:Most participants lived in smoke-free homes and the vast majority had never smoked regularly. Promoting good mental health and strengthening social connections may be protective against smoking as those experiencing less social disruption were more likely to have never smoked regularly. Smoking may be an indicator of psychosocial conditions and a prompt for screening and simultaneous treatment.So what?: Organisations should be resourced to deliver holistic adolescent health promotion programs. Programs and policies should support positive family relationships and stable housing as this may protect against the uptake of regular smoking.

E‐cigarette use and the relationship to smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non‐Indigenous Australian Secondary Students, 2017

“…These include good mental health, strong family relationships, stable housing and no criminal justice interactions. 38,39 This study found 18% of 14-17-year-old students overall had ever vaped in 2017, approximately double that reported for this age-group in the 2016 and 2019 NDSHS (9-10%). 32,40 From the 2018/19 NATSIHS, 4% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth aged 15-17 years reported ever use of e-cigarettes, 30 considerably lower than our best comparison estimates of 26% among 14-17-year-olds and 31% among 16-17-yearolds.…”

“…Protective factors identified for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in relation to tobacco and cannabis use are likely to be similarly important for vaping. These include good mental health, strong family relationships, stable housing and no criminal justice interactions 38,39 …”