Epidemiol Health.  2018;40:e2018009. 10.4178/epih.e2018009.

Relationship between happiness and tobacco smoking among high school students

• Ataeiasl M
• Sarbakhsh
• Dadashzadeh H
• Augner C
• Anbarlouei M
• Mohammadpoorasl A

• KMID: 2438464
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2018009

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Recent research has described negative relationship between happiness and habitual smoking among adolescents. No study of this relationship has been conducted among Iranian adolescents. The aim of the present study was to characterize the relationship between happiness and cigarette or hookah smoking among a sample of high school students.
METHODS
A sample of 1,161 10th-grade students in Tabriz (northwest Iran) was selected by multi-stage proportional cluster sampling. Participants completed a self-administered multiple-choice questionnaire including information on cigarette smoking, hookah smoking, happiness score, substance abuse, self-injury, general risk-taking behavior, attitudes towards smoking, socioeconomic information, and demographic characteristics. An ordinal logistic regression model was used for data analysis.
RESULTS
It was found that 5.9 and 5.0% of students were regular cigarette smokers and regular hookah smokers, respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, higher happiness scores were found to protect students against more advanced stages of cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR], 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97 to 0.99; p=0.013). However, no significant relationship was found between happiness scores and hookah smoking status (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.02; p=0.523).
CONCLUSIONS
Happiness scores were associated with less advanced stages of habitual cigarette smoking among high school students. Our findings underscore the necessity of conducting longitudinal or interventional studies aiming to determine the effects of enhancing happiness on preventing the transition through the stages of cigarette and hookah smoking.

Keyword

Cigarette smoking; Hookah smoking; Adolescents; Happiness; Iran

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Happiness*
Humans
Iran
Logistic Models
Risk-Taking
Smoke
Smoking*
Statistics as Topic
Substance-Related Disorders
Tobacco Products
Tobacco*
Smoke