TY - JOUR
T1 - Cigarette, e-cigarette and waterpipe cognitions and use among university students in Guangzhou, China
AU - Font-Mayolas, Sílvia
AU - Sullman, Mark J.M.
AU - Hughes, Jiawei D.
AU - Gras, Maria Eugenia
AU - Jurado, Valentina Lucena
AU - Calvo, Fran
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was approved by the Social Science Ethics Research Board at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus (Approval number: SSERB 0053; Date: 12 November 2019). Participation in the survey was deemed informed consent.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Font-Mayolas S. et al.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - INTRODUCTION There is currently little research on polytobacco use in China. The present study examined cognitions that predicted the use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and waterpipes in a Chinese sample of students. METHODS A convenience sample of 281 university students, obtained using snowball sampling, completed an online survey during the 2019–2020 academic year in Guangzhou, China. RESULTS Men more strongly agreed, than women, with the possible advantages of using alternative nicotine and tobacco products, including: young people who smoke have more friends, smoking makes young people look cool, smoking makes young people feel more comfortable, smoking helps relieve stress, and it would be easy to quit. Factors significantly associated with regular cigarette use were the cognitions: ‘I would smoke if my best friend offered’, ‘Young people who use these products have more friends’, and ‘It would be easy to quit these products’ (global good classifications= 80.1%). In the case of waterpipes, agreement with the cognition: ‘The product helps people relieve stress’ was significantly associated with its use (global good classifications=80.1%). In the case of e-cigarettes, agreement with the cognitions: ‘I would smoke if my best friend offered’ and ‘It would be easy to quit using these products’ were significantly associated with the use of e-cigarettes (global good classifications=74.7%). CONCLUSIONS The results highlight the need to develop prevention programs that prepare young Chinese people to resist social pressure from friends to use tobacco products. There is also evidence of the need to facilitate and disseminate rigorous scientific information among young people about the possible negative health effects of alternative tobacco products. There were also gender differences in the use of these products and in the cognitions towards their use, so it is important to take the gender perspective into account in the analysis of the results and when writing future questionnaire items.
AB - INTRODUCTION There is currently little research on polytobacco use in China. The present study examined cognitions that predicted the use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and waterpipes in a Chinese sample of students. METHODS A convenience sample of 281 university students, obtained using snowball sampling, completed an online survey during the 2019–2020 academic year in Guangzhou, China. RESULTS Men more strongly agreed, than women, with the possible advantages of using alternative nicotine and tobacco products, including: young people who smoke have more friends, smoking makes young people look cool, smoking makes young people feel more comfortable, smoking helps relieve stress, and it would be easy to quit. Factors significantly associated with regular cigarette use were the cognitions: ‘I would smoke if my best friend offered’, ‘Young people who use these products have more friends’, and ‘It would be easy to quit these products’ (global good classifications= 80.1%). In the case of waterpipes, agreement with the cognition: ‘The product helps people relieve stress’ was significantly associated with its use (global good classifications=80.1%). In the case of e-cigarettes, agreement with the cognitions: ‘I would smoke if my best friend offered’ and ‘It would be easy to quit using these products’ were significantly associated with the use of e-cigarettes (global good classifications=74.7%). CONCLUSIONS The results highlight the need to develop prevention programs that prepare young Chinese people to resist social pressure from friends to use tobacco products. There is also evidence of the need to facilitate and disseminate rigorous scientific information among young people about the possible negative health effects of alternative tobacco products. There were also gender differences in the use of these products and in the cognitions towards their use, so it is important to take the gender perspective into account in the analysis of the results and when writing future questionnaire items.
KW - China
KW - cigarettes
KW - e-cigarettes
KW - polytobacco use
KW - waterpipe
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151270573&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18332/tid/159171
DO - 10.18332/tid/159171
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85151270573
SN - 1617-9625
VL - 21
JO - Tobacco Induced Diseases
JF - Tobacco Induced Diseases
M1 - 30
ER -