Search

Young adulthood is a sensitive period characterized by the accumulation of resources and transitions in and out of education, employment, family, and housing arrangements. The association between these characteristics and smoking outcomes likely varies with age yet few studies address its dynamic age-graded nature. To explore this, we examined 2083 young adults ages 18-25 from the 2011-2012 cross-sectional sample of the Montreal-based Interdisciplinary Study of Inequalities in Smoking. We operationalized participants' socioeconomic characteristics using their resources (e.g., education, income, financial difficulties) and transition stages (i.e., studying, working full-time, living arrangements with parents and children, and being in a relationship). We examined differences in these characteristics' associations with occasional and daily smoking across two-year categories (18-19, 20-21, 22-23, and 24-25) using multinomial logistic regression models with age-based interaction terms. Findings highlighted four characteristics, i.e., educational attainment, personal income, student status, and relationship status, with significant differences in associations with smoking outcomes across age categories. Between the age groups of 18-19 and 24-25: 1) the negative association between low educational attainment and daily smoking increased; 2) the positive association between personal income and daily smoking decreased; 3) the negative association between student status and both outcomes decreased; 4) the negative association between relationship status and occasional smoking increased. Findings support that the associations between young adults' socioeconomic characteristics and smoking outcomes vary substantially during the second and third decades of life. Addressing this has critical implications for identifying vulnerable populations and developing appropriate age-based policies in this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Ongoing surveillance of youth substance use is essential to quantify harms and to identify populations at higher risk. In the Canadian context, historical and structural injustices make monitoring excess risk among Indigenous youth particularly important. This study updated national prevalence rates of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use among Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Methods: Differences in tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use were examined, using logistic regression, among 1700 Indigenous and 22 800 non-Indigenous youth in Grades 9-12 who participated in the 2014/15 Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey. Differences by sex were also examined. Mean age of first alcohol and marijuana use was compared in the two populations using OLS regression. Results were compared to 2008/09 data. Results: While smoking, alcohol, and marijuana rates have decreased compared to 2008/09 in both populations, the gap between the populations has mostly not. In 2014/15, Indigenous youth had higher odds of smoking (odds ratio [OR]: 5.26; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.54-7.81) and past-year drinking (OR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.16- 1.76) than non-Indigenous youth. More Indigenous than non-Indigenous youth attempted quitting smoking. Non-Indigenous males were less likely to have had at least one drink in the past-year compared to non-Indigenous females. Indigenous males and females had higher odds of past-year marijuana use than non-Indigenous males (OR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.32-2.56) and females (OR: 2.87; 95% CI: 2.15-3.84). Indigenous youth, especially males, drank alcohol and used marijuana at younger ages. Conclusion: Additional policies and programs are required to help Indigenous youth be successful in their attempts to quit smoking, and to address high rates of alcohol and marijuana use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

News media coverage has the potential to shape awareness and perceptions of e-cigarettes, but little is known about youth and young adult exposure to e-cigarette news. We analyzed news exposure measures on Wave 1 of the ITC Youth Tobacco and E-cigarette Survey, conducted in Canada, England, and the U.S. Web-based surveys were completed by 16-19-year-olds in July/August 2017 (n = 12,064). The prevalence of exposure to e-cigarette news and its perceived valence is provided. Logistic regression was used to model the odds of news exposure, and the association between news exposure and e-cigarette harm perceptions, susceptibility, and quitting intentions. Overall, 17.1% of young people reported hearing or seeing e-cigarette news at least 'sometimes' in the past 30 days. The majority of those exposed (n = 2052) perceived the content of the news stories to be mostly negative (35.7%) or mixed (34.8%) about e-cigarettes, versus mostly positive (19%). Perceived exposure to mostly negative e-cigarette stories was lower among past 30-day e-cigarette users and youth in England. Participants exposed to mostly negative e-cigarette news were more likely to perceive that e-cigarettes cause at least some harm and, among past 30 day users, have intentions to quit e-cigarettes in the next month. Exposure to mostly positive news was associated with higher odds of e-cigarette susceptibility among never triers. Young people report exposure to e-cigarette news with varied perceptions of its valence. E-cigarette news exposure may shape e-cigarette harm perceptions and use intentions, as well as reflect existing beliefs and product interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Youth may use a variety of tobacco products and e-cigarettes. However, there is a lack of evidence for the combinations of tobacco products and e-cigarettes commonly used by youth in Canada and whether youth from different usage classes share similar characteristics.Methods: A cohort of 9th grade students from Ontario, Canada was identified at baseline (2013-14) of the COMPASS study (n = 4651). Classes of youth that currently use similar combinations of tobacco products and e-cigarettes were identified at baseline, one (FY1) and two years later (FY2) using latent class analysis. Multinomial logistic regression models identified demographic and behavioural characteristics (e.g., environmental influences, substance use behaviours, etc.) of youth in current tobacco and e-cigarette use classes relative to youth in non-current use classes.Results: At baseline, a three-class model was identified as best, while a four-class model was identified at FY1 and FY2. A non-current use group and an all-product use group were identified every year. Students that reported having friends that smoked cigarettes, binge drinking, and using marijuana were more likely to be classified into a current use class.Conclusions: Tobacco cigarettes were more likely to be used with other products than on their own. An all-product use group was identified across all three survey waves and the prevalence of this group increased over time. Given that many youth in this study used more than one tobacco product or e-cigarette and commonly reported binge drinking and using marijuana, prevention and cessation activities should address the use of multiple products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Deprived neighborhoods play an important role in adult smoking behavior, but little research exists about youth on this topic. This study explored the relationship between deprivation and youth smoking to examine whether this association differs by gender and ethno-racial origin. Methods: Individual-level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2000–2005) were combined with neighborhood-level data from the 2001 Canada Census to assess smoking among youth aged 12–18 (n=15,615). Results: Youth who were female (OR=1.27, 95%CI:1.16–1.38), White (OR=1.95, 95%CI:1.71–2.21) and living in deprived neighborhoods (OR=1.22, 95%CI:1.16–1.28) were more likely to smoke. In multilevel models, White females were more likely to smoke relative to non-White females and males (OR=1.42, 95%CI:1.06–1.89). Youth with a strong sense of community belonging and living in deprived neighborhoods were at increased risk of smoking (OR=1.18, 95%CI:1.06–1.32). The individual-level risk factor, household smoker, contributed substantially to youth smoking reducing the bivariate association between material deprivation and smoking by 33%. Conclusion: White females, youth cohabiting with other smokers and youth living in poor neighborhoods with a strong sense of community belonging, are at an increased risk of smoking. Future anti-smoking efforts might have greater impact if they target at-risk youth as well as household members who cohabit with youth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Truly global standards and definitions will likely never exist for tobacco control surveillance. One difference across definitions of smoking status is whether or not a lifetime consumption of 100 cigarettes is a necessary criterion for ever and current smoking. Frequently asked questions about this measure demonstrate a need for information on its development and appropriateness in different settings. This commentary attempts to assemble information on the origin and adoption of this measure and provide some critical commentary on its usefulness. The question has been traced to Canadian and American mortality cohort studies from the mid-1950s. From there it has spread to inconsistent use in many settings. To our knowledge, it was not originally (or since) empirically defined as a threshold of exposure related to health consequences or future smoking risk when used in youth. Anecdotal evidence over several decades, however, shows the question has pragmatic utility in self-report data collection. It is a useful, if somewhat arbitrary, screener for "never regular" tobacco use among adults, where never smoking needs to be defined in data collection. Use of the criterion may lower prevalence estimates somewhat. Definitions must always be considered when creating time-trends or international comparisons. There are also circumstances where it is inappropriate to exclude individuals who do not meet this criterion from further data collection, or reports. For research in youth, the criterion typically should be used only with more detailed information about experimentation, but it may be a useful additional indicator of established smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment investigated three levels of threat in cigarette warning labels: no warning/text warning only/text + graphic warning. Teenagers in Canada and the US were exposed to one of these labels in a web-surfing environment. Participants surfed a website sponsored by a familiar cigarette brand or an unfamiliar cigarette brand. After surfing, three dependent measures were assessed: brand attitude, website attitude, and smoking intent. Results indicated that the graphic label was the most effective for Canadian participants, leading to negative attitudes and lower smoking intentions, but the graphic label was least effective at lowering smoking intentions for US participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study reports findings from two-level growth curve modeling of cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms based on the first three waves of data from a longitudinal study of Indigenous adolescents and their parents/caretakers in the northern Midwest and Canada. The 743 adolescents were aged 10–13 years at Wave 1 and 12–15 years at Wave 3. Over the three years of the study the overall retention rate was 93%. By Wave 3, 39% of the adolescent girls and 25% of the boys had smoked cigarettes in the past 12 months. The growth curve results indicated that smoking increased for both adolescent boys and girls across time. Depressive symptoms were associated with an increase in cigarette smoking for girls but not boys. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the factors affecting the decline in the prevalence of smoking in Canada based on the Canadian Community Health Survey. The sharpest decline was among the youth ranging from 12 to 17 years old. About two-thirds of Canadians aged 12 or older lived in households with smoking restrictions in 2005. It cites that exposure to second-hand smoke has dropped due to smoking bans. Statistical information on the percentage of smokers in the country is presented.

Current tobacco-control strategies seek to inhibit and reduce smoking among adolescents. However, such strategies are probably undermined by the contraband tobacco market. Using data from Canada's 2006/2007 Youth Smoking Survey, we found that 13.1% of respondents who were daily smokers reported that contraband cigarettes were their usual brand. They consumed significantly more cigarettes than respondents who smoked other brands. Contraband cigarettes accounted for about 17.5% of all cigarettes smoked by adolescent daily smokers in Canada overall, and for more than 25% in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adulthood is now considered a sensitive period in the progression of health inequalities over the life-course. This age group experiences highly dynamic and socially patterned life-course events that require nuanced modelling choices compared to those commonly used in public health sciences. To illustrate this, we estimate changes in the risk of smoking according to student status, employment status, living arrangements, and relationship status at different ages across education categories. We used longitudinal data in 1,243 young adults followed every two years between the ages of 18-19 and 24-25 in the Canadian National Population Health Survey (1994-95 to 2010-11). We examined the age-graded associations of occasional and daily smoking with educational attainment and transition statuses using random-effects multinomial logistic regression models with interaction terms. Post-secondary education, living with parents, studying, and being in a relationship were associated with a lower risk of daily smoking in main models, with some of these associations significantly varying in magnitude by age. The risk associated with living without parents at ages 18-19 disappeared by ages 24-25. Being single was both a protective factor at ages 18-19 and a risk factor at ages 24-25. Finally, the risk associated with being single was also stronger among those who did not pursue post-secondary education. These findings support the argument that the simple conceptualization of young adults' circumstances - independent from age and social context - provides a limited understanding of the progression of health inequalities over the life-course. Research needs to consider the dynamic and intersecting nature of transition milestones during this intensive life period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of electronic nicotine delivery systems (commonly referred to as e-cigarettes) has created an ongoing public health debate and concerns, especially in regards to adolescents. The present study examined associations between the frequency of e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking among school students. Data on students (grades 7-12) was obtained from the 2016-2017 Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (n = 51,661). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between the frequency of e-cigarette use and smoking. Subgroup analyses were performed for male and female students. Among those who reported any cigarette smoking in the past 30 days, 55% reported e-cigarette use at least once in the last 30 days. Additionally, 17% reported e-cigarette use for 21-30 days among those who smoked cigarettes for at least 21 days. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed e-cigarette use was associated with higher odds of cigarette smoking, especially among more frequent e-cigarette users. Those who used an e-cigarette 21-30 days had higher odds of cigarette smoking (smoked cigarette at least once AOR = 4.83, CI = 3.33-7.01; at least 11 days AOR = 3.73, CI = 2.40-5.80; at least 21 days AOR = 3.39, CI = 2.16-5.34). Findings suggest that those who smoked cigarettes at least once in the past 30 days had a higher frequency of e-cigarette use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the findings of the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) which state that the rates of smoking in Ontario are among the lowest in the country. The survey reveals a significant reduction in the percentage of smoking among young Canadians. It emphasizes the efforts of the Clinical Tobacco Intervention (CTI) Program to provide dentists with the tools they need to help patients in achieving a smoke-free status through education and support.