The Tobacco Problem of Childhood Abuse

Tobacco is a widely used drug and one that doesn’t seem to falter in use after passing through the adolescent phase, unlike other drugs like marijuana. The abuse potential of tobacco increases when a teen is being physical abused or sexually abused.  This article was the result of part of a longitudinal study that started in 1976 when the children where ages 18 months to six years of age. The same participants from the 1976 group have been apart of the 1980, 1992 and 2010 data collections. The last data collection had a mean age of 36 years old.  The researchers collected their data in each wave slightly differently. In the first two (1976 and 1980) waves the data was collected through a parental self-report on how they would discipline their children, including some answers such as biting and hitting the child. In the third wave (1992) the children, now adolescents, gave a self-report on if they had been sexually abused or raped before the age of 18 years and their smoking behaviors. The last wave (2010) measured how the now adults had and/or do smoke. They found that 49% had smoked within the last year and the range was all the way from one cigarette a week to 560 a week. This study found that children who were abused increased the likelihood that they would smoke. They did not find a relationship between childhood abuse and smoking in adolescents. The researchers did find that childhood abuse was a factor in the frequency of smoking, but not in the decision to smoke. This study found slight gender differences and asks the question of expanding on the gender differences.  By knowing there is a problem and a slight connection between abuse victims and smoking, programs can use this to educate our young people. One of the biggest problems that the researchers felt about this study is how many people that had participating that where not randomly selected.

Abstract

Kristman-Valente A. N., Brown, E. C., & Herrenkohl, T. I. (2013). Child Physical and Sexual Abuse and Cigarette Smoking in Adolescence and Adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(4), 533-538.doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.06.003