[Factors associated with smoking and the intention to smoke in secondary school pupils: results of the ESFA project in Barcelona, Spain].

OBJECTIVE

To describe the factors asssociated with smoking and intention to smoke among a representative sample of first-grade pupils of secondary education (12-13 years old) in Barcelona.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

37 secondary schools were randomly selected to evaluate the impact of a European-wide smoking prevention program (European Smoking prevention Frame Approach, ESFA project). In these schools, 1041 pupils of first grade of secondary education responded to a questionnaire designed at the University of Maastricht to study life-style attitudes and behaviours, mainly smoking.

RESULTS

9.8% of boys and 12.6% of girls declared to smoke either regulary or ocasionally. Among the no-smokers, 61.4% of the boys and 73.3% of the girls reported to have the intention to smoke in the future. Among the boys, factors associated with smoking included social norms (odds ratio [OR] = 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-5.2), smoking by siblings (OR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1-5.2), attitudes against smoking (OR = 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1-0.6), practicing some sports in the leisure time (OR = 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1-0.7) and having more available pocket money (OR = 3.2; 95% CI, 1.5-6.8). Intention to smoke was only related to attitudes (OR = 0.3; 95% CI, 0.2-0.5). Among girls, smoking was associated to perceived pressure to smoke (OR = 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2-5.0), consumption by friends (OR = 6.0; 95% CI, 2.4-15.4) and attitudes against smoking (OR = 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.4), while intention was only associated to attitudes (OR = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.6) and hanging out in the street in the leisure time (OR = 2.2; 95% CI, 0.3-3.5).

CONCLUSIONS

The results stress the need to deal simultaneoulsy with the different factors associated to smoking initiation and attitude shaping, including cognitive factors, environmental factors, and patterns of leisure time utilization.