TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Sexual minority status, school-based violence, and current tobacco use among youth
JO  - Tobacco prevention and cessation
A1  - Duangchan, Cherdsak
A1  - Matthews, Alicia K.
A1  - Smith, Ariel U.
A1  - Steffen, Alana D.
SP  - e46
EP  - e46
VL  - 8
IS  - 
N2  - INTRODUCTION: Sexual minority individuals experience elevated risk for smoking and violence due to a combination of general and unique identity-based risk factors. This study examined associations among sexual minority status, school-based violence, and tobacco use, among youth. <br><br>METHODS: Data for this secondary data analysis consisted of Chicago-specific data from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (n=1562). Current use (≥1 day during the previous 30 days) of any tobacco product (cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars) and school-based violence (avoided school because they felt unsafe, were threatened/injured with a weapon, were in a physical fight, and were bullied) were estimated by sexual orientation (heterosexual vs gay, lesbian, bisexual, and unsure). A chi-squared test was used to investigate associations among the variables. Path analysis was employed to examine possible mediation effects of school-based violence. <br><br>RESULTS: Thirty percent of sexual minority youth and 11.5% of heterosexual youth reported current tobacco use (χ(2)=55.91; p<0.001). Nearly one-third (31.8%) of youth reported school-based violence, with a higher rate (41.2%) reported by sexual minority youth compared to heterosexual youth (28.1%; χ(2)=19.48; p<0.001). Path analysis confirmed these associations, controlling for sex, age, and race/ethnicity. The model showed that sexual minority status increased odds of current tobacco use by a factor of 1.8 (95% CI: 1.3-2.6) via its relationship with school-based violence, explaining 33.8% of the total association between sexual minority status and tobacco use. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco use was higher among sexual minority youth. School-based violence partially mediated the association between sexual minority status and tobacco use. <br><br>FINDINGS highlight the need for tobacco prevention and treatment efforts for sexual minority youth and school-based interventions to reduce exposure to violence.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2459-3087
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.18332/tpc/156110
ID  - ref1
ER  -