Adolescentes e tabagismo: o que pensam sobre a família, a escola, os pares, e si mesmos / Adolescents and smoking: what do they think about family, school, peers and themselves

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

A descriptive, cross-sectional study, with comparisons between groups, was performed in two steps. The first one approached the pattern of tobacco consumption, the characteristics of family, school and peers. In the second one, based on concepts of the social identity theory, was looked for identify the representations that the adolescents have about smokers and nonsmokers and their identifications with the qualifications attributed to those two groups of individuals. In this study participated, 494 students aged 15-18 studying at two high schools of the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico (62,5% females). In the first step the following instruments were used: Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) and the Questionnaire of Tolerance of Fagerstrom (QTF). In the second, 26 teenagers were interviewed individually with support of a guide previously made. The main results of the first stage show that 45, 7% (n = 226) smoke cigarettes once in life; 88.7% are nonsmokers at the moment and 11, 3% are smokers. The age of beginning of the tobacco consumption is between 13 and 15 years old; 89.3% show a very low level of nicotine dependency. The preferred places to smoke are social meetings and school. Differences between groups of smokers and nonsmokers were not found regarding parentssmoking. About the use of cigarettes by friends, differences between groups were identified (X² = 62, 75; p<0,001); 49.1% of teenager smokers mentioned that their best friends are smokers too and 11% of the non smokers gave the same answer. We found a difference about accepting the supply of cigarettes provided by their best friends (X² = 251, 81; p<0,001), 71.2% of the nonsmokers answered that they would not accept it and 71, 4% of the smokers answered that probably they would accept. Regarding the belief that quit smoking is difficult, the difference between the groups was significant (X² = 22, 44; p<0,001), 42, 6% of the nonsmokers answered that it is difficult to quit smoking and 41, 8% of smokers mentioned that is not difficult. The representations that adolescents have of women and men who smoke, are also different (X² = 37, 13, p<0,001; X² = 39, 84, p<0,001 each). In general, negative characteristics are attributed more to the women, they are labeled negatively in greater proportion. The results of the second step of the study show that smoker and nonsmoker teenagers tend to attribute to the nonsmokers positive characteristics. The opposite occurs when they qualify smokers. A percentage of adolescents consider that there are not differences between smokers and non smokers. When evaluating themselves, regarding the characteristics that they attributed to smokers and nonsmokers, we verify that the smokers tend not to see themselves in those representations. Nonsmokers tend to see themselves with the characteristics of nonsmokers. Findings from this study have important implications for the understanding of what the adolescents think about smoking and factors related to that behavior.

ASSUNTO(S)

nursing adolescent smoking adolescente enfermagem tabagismo

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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