Relationships between stress and smoking behavior among adolescents in Xi’an city

Objective To understand smoking status and the relationships between stress and smoking behavior among adolescents in Xi'an city and to provide the basis for prevention of adolescent smoking. Methods Totally 1 028 students from 8 middle or high schools in 6 districts of Xi'an city were randomly selected for a questionnaire survey.The information collected included interpersonal relationship,study achievement,punishment,loss of property and family members,health status,and adaptation.Single-factor χ² test,independent sample t test and multivariate logistic regression were adopted in data analysis. Results The ever smoking rate was 34.1%(50.8% for boys and 1.0% for girls).The scores of middle school students for interpersonal relationship(8.72±3.78),loss of property or family members(4.04±3.08),health status (4.37±4.90),and adaptation(5.05±3.70)were significantly higher than the average scores of other students.The results of multivariate logistic regression showed that male(adds ratioOR=9.351),in the second year of middle school (OR=2.356),interpersonal relationship(OR=1.430),study burden(OR=1.778),punishment(OR=2.518),loss of family member or property(OR=1.693),health and adaptation,and other stress(OR=4.368)were risk factors of smoking behavior among the students. Conclusion Smoking behavior and stress is closely related among the adolescents in middle and hight schools.