Background: The smoking rate among Taiwanese adolescents remains high. In any age group, smoking behavior can be influenced by personal, social, and familial factors. In adolescents, many factors, including psychological, physical, emotional, and interpersonal relationships, both social and familial, interact to influence smoking behavior. At present, no data are available on smoking behavior in military students in Taiwan. Understanding the factors that influence smoking behavior is a critical element in smoking cessation programs.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and predictors of smoking behaviors among military university students in Taiwan.
Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 2,477 students were recruited for this study from seven universities across Taiwan. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data covering demographics, family environment, school environment, cigarette smoking attitudes, self-efficacy, and cigarette smoking behaviors. Both descriptive statistics and logistic regression were for the data analysis. A probability threshold of.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The prevalence of smoking among students in Taiwan has been recently reported as 5.7%. Of this number, 12.8% started smoking after enrollment in school and 33.3% became regular smokers. The main reason for first contact with smoking was curiosity. Avoiding the stress and the difficulties of smoking cessation explained continuing smoking behaviors. Over 80% of smokers attempted to quit but could not decide when to start. Age, peer influence, and self-efficacy were major predictors of student smoking behaviors.
Conclusions/implications: Smoking prevalence was not high among these students. However, more than one in four smokers became regular smokers after enrollment at school. Tobacco control and prevention strategies proved to be of vital importance, as peer influence and self-efficacy represented major predictors of smoking behaviors.