ZAPICO GOÑI, EDUARDO
7.2. Tecnologías de la información y de las comunicaciones
Chapter 2, the literature review on young people’s smoking behaviour, indicated that although young people may experiment with cigarette smoking at an early age, it may take some time before cigarette smoking becomes established as young people drift back and forth between non-smoking, occasional smoking and regular smoking. Among 11 to 15 year olds, regular smoking is defined as
smoking one or more cigarettes per week (Fuller, 2013). Research has
demonstrated that poor socio-economic circumstances, and parental and peer smoking are risk factors for increased rates of cigarette smoking among young people, while protective factors include parental disapproval of cigarette smoking, strict parental guidelines, sanctions against cigarette smoking and family
connectedness.
Chapter 3 gave an overview of the survey undertaken where pupils were asked to complete a self-completion questionnaire in school. In order to determine their smoking status, participants were asked which of the following statements described them best: ‘I have never smoked a cigarette’ (never smoked); ‘I have only ever tried smoking once’ (tried once); ‘I used to smoke sometimes but I never smoke a cigarette now’ (used to smoke); ‘I sometimes smoke cigarettes but less than once a week’ (sometimes smoke); ‘I usually smoke between one and six cigarettes a week’ (1-6 per week); ‘I usually smoke more than six cigarettes a week’ (more than 6 per week). The analysis of the answers to these questions established the categories shown in Table 8. Regular smokers are those who reported smoking more than one cigarette per week.
Table 8: Smoking status of African, African-Caribbean and white young women. Ethnic group Never smoked Tried once Used to smoke Smoke sometimes (less than one cigarette per week) Regular smoker (Smoke 1–6 per week) Regular smoker (Smoke more than 6 per week) Total African 1(50%) 1(50%)
2 African- Caribbean 10(30%) 11(33%) 8(24%) 1(3%) 2(6%) 1(3%) 33 White 13(24%) 9(16%) 13(24%) 7(13%) 5(9%) 8(14%) 55 Total 24
21 21 8 7 9 90
Source: survey data.
The average age of the young women in this sample was 15.2 years. Thirteen of the 55 (24%) white young women were regular smokers and reported smoking more than one cigarette per week while only 3 out of 33 (9%) African-Caribbean young women reported smoking regularly. In 2002, 26% of girls aged 15 were regular smokers (Bore and Shoreham, 2002). This figure represents a mainly white population of young people. As already indicated, there is very little information on cigarette smoking among African-Caribbean young women and what empirical research there is, is patchy and contradictory. Boreham and Shaw (2001) reported that 13% of young white girls aged 11 to 15 were regular smokers compared to 6% of young black girls. Therefore the findings of my research are comparable with Boreham and Shaw’s study, with African-Caribbean young women aged 15 smoking significantly less than their white counterparts of the same age.
My analysis of the survey showed that 10 out of 33 (30%) African-Caribbean young women, and 13 out of 55 (24%) white young women reported that they had never smoked. Although African-Caribbean young women were more likely to report that they had never smoked, when asked if they had tried smoking once, 11 out of 33 (33%) African-Caribbean young women and only 9 out of 55 (16%) white women reported that they had tried smoking once. Therefore African-Caribbean young women were twice as likely as white young women to have experimented with cigarette smoking. Equal percentages (24%) of both African-Caribbean and white young women reported having been smokers. This suggests that African-
than become regular smokers at this age. This supports the findings of other researchers in relation to cigarette smoking and African-Caribbean young women (Best et al, 2001; Ellickson et al, 2004).
Only two African young women replied to the question about cigarette smoking. Of these, one reported that she had never smoked and the other that she had tried smoking once. There were only two African young women and they had more in common with the African-Caribbean than the white young women in relation to cigarette smoking; I have therefore combined the data on cigarette smoking for African and African-Caribbean young women in this chapter.
The survey data demonstrated that African and African-Caribbean young women were more disadvantaged than young white women in my study in terms of free school meals, home ownership and parental occupation. These factors will be discussed more fully in the next chapter. For now I just want to re-iterate that social disadvantage is associated with a higher prevalence of cigarette smoking among young people. However, in this study African and African-Caribbean young women were significantly less likely to become regular smokers. Hence socio- economic disadvantage was not associated with cigarette smoking among these African and African-Caribbean young women. There may be protective factors operating which will be explored in the following chapters. Young people in disadvantaged circumstances are more likely to start smoking at an earlier age. Table 9 shows the age at which the young women reportedly started smoking.
Table 9: Age at which respondent smoked first cigarette (excludes never smoked and tried once).
Age of respondent when she smoked first cigarette White (n=33)
African-Caribbean and African (n=12) 7 1
0 10 2
0 11 1
2 12 8
2 14 5
1 15 2
0 N/R 14
7
The participants were filtered after being asked the question on smoking status, so only respondents who had ever smoked were asked at what age they started smoking, that is, not the people who had never smoked a cigarette or who had only ever tried smoking once. The average age at which young women in this sample smoked their first cigarette was 12.6 years for young white women and 12.5 years for African-Caribbean young women. Hence there appears to be little difference in the average age at which young white women and young African- Caribbean first tried smoking. There were striking differences reported in the individual age of first smoking cigarettes, with one young white woman reporting having her first cigarette at age seven and two young white women reporting having their first cigarette at age 10, while the earliest age reported by African- Caribbean young women was 11 (Table 10). In the UK, experimentation with smoking cigarettes may start at the age of eight and regular cigarette smoking in young people increases sharply with age.
Although there is little UK research on the age at which young African-Caribbean women start smoking, Best et al (2001) reported that early experimentation with cigarettes was more common among African-Caribbean young people and that they showed the lowest mean age of onset of smoking, although they do not report whether this was true for young women or young men. They further reported that white young people were more likely than black or Asian young people to smoke on a regular basis. Many researchers in the USA have remarked on the later age at which African-American young women start smoking when compared to white American young women (Baugh and Webster, 1982; Headen et al, 1991; Elders et al, 1994; Griesler et al, 1998; Khoury, 1998; King, 1997; Guthrie et al, 2001, 2002). Guthrie et al (2001) reported that the mean age for smoking initiation among African American girls in their study was 12.55 years.
African-Caribbean young women who reported smoking cigarettes reported starting smoking at a later age than their white peers (11 years compared to 7 years). This may be due to the supervision at home or at school or may be a function of the cost of buying cigarettes. In Table 10, I present the data on the young women’s acquisition of cigarettes.
Table 10: Respondent buying own cigarettes (excludes never smoked and tried once).
Whether respondent buys own cigarettes
White (n=33)
African-Caribbean and African (n=12) Yes 20
4 No 11
7 N/R 2
1 Total 33 12
Source: survey data.
Respondents who had ever smoked were asked ‘Do/did you buy your own cigarettes?’ Table 10 demonstrates that 42 of the 45 respondents who had ever smoked answered the question on whether or not they bought their own
cigarettes. Of these, 24 (53%) had bought their own cigarettes. While the numbers are small, it is clear that the white smokers were more likely to report that they bought their cigarettes (20 of 24: 83%) than the African-Caribbean smokers (4 of 24: 17 %). Croghan et al (2003) reported that 67% of regular smokers in their study bought their own cigarettes, but that social sources of cigarettes, friends and peers, were important for school students. If only 4 out of 11 (36 %) African- Caribbean young women were buying their own cigarettes, this suggests that they must have obtained cigarettes from elsewhere, through friends, peers or relatives, for example. It may also mean that it was less easy for African-Caribbean young women to start and maintain regular smoking as they and their families were in a more disadvantaged socio-economic position.
Table 11: Sources of cigarettes (excludes never smoked, tried once and those who buy their own cigarettes).
Where cigarettes come from White African-Caribbean and African Brothers or sisters
0
1 Friends 10
5 Relatives 1
0 N/R 0
1 Total 11
7
Source: survey data.
Table 12 demonstrates that 10 out of 11 (91%) white young women who smoked but did not buy their cigarettes themselves, obtained cigarettes from their friends, while 5 out of 7 (71%) young African-Caribbean women who smoked but did not buy their cigarettes themselves, obtained cigarettes from their friends. For young people who are still at school, obtaining cigarettes and sustaining regular smoking may be problematic. Only one white young woman obtained cigarettes from a relative and one African-Caribbean woman obtained cigarettes from a sibling. This counters the view presented later in this chapter by African-Caribbean women in the focus group that young white women were encouraged to smoke and were more likely to be given cigarettes by members of their family.
The findings from the survey suggest that there was a higher percentage of African and African-Caribbean than white young women who had never smoked (33% compared to 24%). African-Caribbean young women were more likely to experiment with cigarette smoking but less likely to be regular smokers compared to white young women. While the mean age of initiation into cigarette smoking appears to have been similar for African-Caribbean and white young women, this mean age can mask huge differences. In this study young African-Caribbean women reported starting smoking somewhat later than the young white women. Although the survey is based on self-reported data and the accuracy of such surveys has been challenged by some authors, Charlton et al (1985) suggested that young people will report their smoking behaviour accurately as long as confidentiality is guaranteed. Furthermore, self-reported smoking behaviour has been found to be more accurately reported in school-based surveys than in questionnaires completed in the home. Therefore the difference between regular smoking in young white women and young African and African-Caribbean women seems reliable. However, although this survey was undertaken in school, it is
possible that young African-Caribbean women may have been more likely to have been absent from school as there is a higher rate of school exclusions and school absence among African-Caribbean young women. This could not quite account for the striking differences between young white and African-Caribbean women in relation to smoking status. Similar rates of smoking were found in the African- Caribbean participants of the focus groups where fewer than 5% of the young women reported being regular smokers.