Children's loss of autonomy over smoking: the Global Youth Tobacco Survey.
BACKGROUND
Empirical data suggest that children with infrequent tobacco use have difficulty quitting smoking.


METHODS
Data were obtained from the nationally representative Global Youth Tobacco Survey of middle-school students in Cyprus and Greece. Regression analyses examined associations between smoking frequency (smoking days per month or cigarettes smoked per day) and loss of autonomy (difficulty refraining from smoking).


RESULTS
The prevalence of lost autonomy was 40% among subjects who smoked 1 or 2 days/month and 41% among subjects who averaged less than one cigarette/day and increased in a dose-response pattern. Regression models derived from the Cyprus data were replicated by the Greek data.


CONCLUSIONS
Two national surveys confirm previous reports of difficulty with smoking cessation with infrequent smoking. Since loss of autonomy is universally recognised as a core feature of addiction, our data indicate that young adolescents experience symptoms of nicotine addiction with infrequent tobacco use.
Cyprus Institute of Biomedical Sciences (CIBS), Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Elpidoforos S
ES
Soteriades
George
G
Spanoudis
Michael A
MA
Talias
Charles W
CW
Warren
Joseph R
JR
DiFranza
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003535:Cyprus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000009:adverse effects; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*
D009538:Nicotine