Gutschoven Klaas, Van den Bulck Jan
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Communication, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Prev Med. 2004 Dec;39(6):1093-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.04.019.
Previous research has shown a relationship between television viewing and smoking initiation. The relationship between television viewing and the amount of cigarettes consumed by adolescent smokers per time unit (day, week, month...) has not yet been studied.
A cross-sectional sample of children by means of self-reports administered by research assistants in schools was obtained. Participants were 421 smokers in a random sample of 4th year students in 15 secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium. Main outcome measures were quantifiable, closed survey questions about smoking volume, whether or not parents and friends smoked, frequency of going out and average weekly TV viewing volume.
Television viewing was a significant predictor of smoking volume. Smokers who watch more TV smoke more. The relationship was curvilinear (quadratic). The relationship becomes stronger (curves upward) for higher levels of viewing. Those who watch 5 or more hours a day smoke between 60 and 147 cigarettes more per week than those who watch 1 h or less.
Television viewing is significantly related to smoking volume. The content of television may glamorize smoking. Children may learn to associate smoking with viewing regardless of content. It is also possible that heavier smoking leads to more viewing or that a third variable influences both smoking volume and viewing. Regardless of the causal direction of the relationship television viewing appears to be an indicator or predictor of smoking volume. The curvilinear nature of the relationship deserves further attention.
先前的研究表明看电视与开始吸烟之间存在关联。但看电视与青少年吸烟者每时间单位（天、周、月……）的吸烟量之间的关系尚未得到研究。
通过研究助理在学校进行自我报告的方式获取儿童的横断面样本。参与者是比利时弗拉芒地区15所中学四年级学生随机样本中的421名吸烟者。主要结局指标是关于吸烟量、父母及朋友是否吸烟、外出频率和平均每周看电视时长的可量化封闭式调查问题。
看电视是吸烟量的一个重要预测因素。看电视较多的吸烟者吸烟更多。这种关系呈曲线（二次）关系。对于更高的观看量，这种关系变得更强（曲线向上）。每天观看5小时或更多小时的人比观看1小时或更少小时的人每周多吸60至147支烟。
看电视与吸烟量显著相关。电视内容可能美化吸烟。儿童可能学会将吸烟与观看联系起来，而不管内容如何。也有可能吸烟量越大导致观看量越多，或者第三个变量同时影响吸烟量和观看量。无论这种关系的因果方向如何，看电视似乎都是吸烟量的一个指标或预测因素。这种关系的曲线性质值得进一步关注。
