Individual and family correlates for cigarette smoking among Taiwanese college students
Journal
Comprehensive Psychiatry
Journal Volume
50
Journal Issue
3
Pages
276-285
Date Issued
2009
Author(s)
Abstract
Objective: This college-based questionnaire survey aimed to explore the individual, family, and peer correlates for cigarette smoking among first-year college students. Method: The sample included 2918 first-year college students (males, 45.5%) recruited from a national university in Taiwan (participation rate, 79.1%). The participants reported on questions about various substances, attitudes toward substances, personality characteristics, psychopathology, suicidal behaviors, parenting style, family function and use of substances, and peer substance use. Results: There were 263 (9.0%; males, 70.6%) current smokers. Compared to nonsmokers, college smokers were more extraverted and neurotic, and showed less harm avoidance, and more novelty seeking in their personality. They had more hostile, somatic, depressive, paranoid, and psychotic symptoms in terms of psychopathology. Smokers were more likely to use other substances, and to have suicidal ideations, wishes, plans, and attempts. Smokers perceived lower family cohesion, less care from their fathers, and less overprotection from their mothers. They were more likely to have peers and family members who also smoked or used other substances. The most associated correlates were male sex, older age, other substance use, novelty seeking, suicidal ideation and attempts, sibling and peer substance use, a prosubstance attitude, and less maternal overprotection. Conclusions: Our findings support the association of cigarette use in Taiwanese young adults with several individual, family, and peer factors identified in Western studies. Intervention in cigarette use should be multifaceted, by taking its correlates and the concurrent psychopathology, use of substances, and suicidality into consideration. ? 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
SDGs
Other Subjects
nicotine; adult; article; cigarette smoking; college student; controlled study; correlation analysis; family counseling; female; health survey; human; major clinical study; male; mental disease; prevalence; questionnaire; suicide attempt; tobacco dependence; Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Attitude to Health; Female; Humans; Male; Peer Group; Personality Disorders; Personality Inventory; Prevalence; Questionnaires; Smoking; Students; Substance-Related Disorders; Suicide, Attempted; Taiwan; Young Adult
Type
journal article