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Correlates and Predictors of Tobacco Use Among Immigrant and Refugee Youth in a Western Canadian City

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Abstract

Background Tobacco control is a priority of the British Columbia Ministry of Health as illnesses associated with tobacco use are the leading cause of preventable death in the province. As a result of increased immigration, British Columbia’s demographic profile is becoming more diverse and necessitates approaches to health promotion and disease prevention that are culturally relevant. In order to develop culturally relevant anti-smoking messages and resources for immigrant and refugee youth, surveys were administered to 194 youth to better understand their attitudes towards smoking and to explore predictors of tobacco use. Results Twelve percent of respondents reported smoking all or part of a cigarette within the past 30 days. Male respondents were three times more likely to smoke than female respondents. Logistic regression analysis showed that immigrant and refugee youth were more likely to be non-smokers if they did not have a father who smokes, drank alcohol less frequently and had fewer close friends who smoke. Implications These findings support previous research studies that relate youth smoking to social influences and demonstrate a need to address gender differences, the confluence of smoking and drinking and the significance of family and peer pressure on smoking when designing culturally relevant anti-smoking resources.

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Acknowledgements

This research project was made possible by funding from the Tobacco Control Programme, Health Canada. This research project would not have been possible without the experience and dedication of Deblekha Guin, project manager of the ‘Through the Eyes of New Canadians’ tobacco counter marketing campaign and Carmen Munoz and Heather Turnbull from the Immigrant Services Society of BC and Joanne Barry from Malatest and Associates. I would also like to acknowledge the steering committee members who so expertly guided this project and ensured it represented the ideas of immigrant and refugee youth and our focus group facilitators who collected the data (Steering Committee: Natalie Lozano, BoBae Kim, Andrea Eliane Guerrero Rosas, Farid Tirgarian, Heather Turnbull, Carmen Munoz; Youth Facilitators: Farid Tirgarian, Ann Cao, Natalie Lozano, Pirouz Nemati, Maria Fernanda, Sindy Herrera, Netsanet Tsegaye, Emebet Tsegaye, Amna Elshazly, Alisa Shaykhullina, Diana Bakhtiar, Humaira Haidary).

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  1. Kathrin Stoll

    Present address: Division of Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, B54-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3

Authors and Affiliations

  1. AMES (Access to Media Education Society), 141 Sturdies Bay Road, Galiano Island, BC, Canada, V0N 1P0

    Kathrin Stoll

  2. Immigrant Services Society of B.C., 530 Drake Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 2H3

    Kathrin Stoll

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  1. Kathrin Stoll
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Correspondence to Kathrin Stoll.

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Stoll, K. Correlates and Predictors of Tobacco Use Among Immigrant and Refugee Youth in a Western Canadian City. J Immigrant Minority Health 10, 567–574 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-008-9136-4

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