Social Smoking and Mental Health Among Chinese Male College Students

• Published in: American journal of health promotion Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 226 - 231
• Main Authors: Cai, Long-biao, Xu, Fang-rong, Cheng, Qing-zhou, Zhan, Jian, Xie, Tao, Ye, Yong-ling, Xiong, Shang-zhi, McCarthy, Kayne, He, Qi-qiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2017; American Journal of Health Promotion
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; China; College students; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - epidemiology; Health promotion; Humans; Loneliness; Male; Males; Mental depression; Mental health; Mental Health - statistics & numerical data; Nonsmokers; Prevalence; Public health; Questionnaires; Self injury; Self-Injurious Behavior - epidemiology; Smoker-Nonsmoker interactions; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking cessation; Smoking Cessation - psychology; Social Environment; Students - psychology; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide; Tobacco; Tobacco Use Disorder - epidemiology; Universities; Young Adult; China; Health focus: smoking control; Target population age: youth; Outcome measure: behavioral; Study design: survey research; Research purpose: descriptive; Strategy: education; Setting: school; Target population circumstances: college education levels, China location, and Chinese population; Social Smoking, Students, Mental Health, Prevention Research. Manuscript format: research
• ISSN: 0890-1171; 2168-6602; 2168-6602
• DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.141001-QUAN-494

Purpose. China has a high prevalence of smoking, but the characteristics of social smoking in Chinese college students have not been investigated. We examined the pattern of social smoking and explored the association between social smoking and personal cessation efforts and mental health factors among Chinese male college students. Design. Study design was a cross-sectional survey. Setting. P. R. China was the setting of the study. Subjects. Participants were a random sample of 1327 male college students. Measures. All participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that examined their smoking behaviors and a group of specific mental health factors (loneliness, self-harm, suicide, depression, and anxiety). Analysis. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, χ2 analysis, and multivariate logistic regression. Results. Of a total of 207 current smokers, 102 (49.3%) were identified as social smokers. Compared with nonsmokers, social smokers had increased risks for depression (odds ratio, 1.74; 95% confidence interval, 1.15–2.65). Among daily smokers, social smokers were less likely to have an intention to quit smoking than nonsocial smokers (odds ratio, .08; 95% confidence interval, .01–.57). Conclusion. This study reveals unique psychologic characteristics related to social smoking. College students are a particular group of interest because unhealthy behaviors initiated during adolescence may continue through adulthood. Our findings provide evidence for future tobacco control intervention among this population.