DETERMINANTS OF YOUTH SMOKING—EVIDENCE FROM TURKEY

Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of smoking among middle- and high-school students in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected from 4800 students in the second semester of the 1997–98 academic year to investigate substance use prevalence among young people. In addition to classical independent variables, factors which are not frequently used in the literature—such as school type, neighborhood, family religiosity, and factors reflecting the cultural background of the students—are included in the analysis. The results of binomial logistic regression offer evidence for the effects of school type, a smoking-related attitude, presence of a stepmother, father's use of alcohol, sister and brother who smoke, student's alcohol use, and participation in art activities.

• Youth smoking
• Determinants of smoking
• Turkey

RESUMEN

Este estudio investiga los determinantes de fumar entre los estudiantes de secundaria y liceos en Ankara Turquía. El dato fue proporcionado a través de 4800 estudiantes, en el segundo semestre del año 1997–1998. Dicha encuesta se aplicó para investigar la razón del uso entre los jovenes. Además de variables motivos clásicos independientes, hay factores que no se usan frecuentemente en la literatura-tales como: tipo de escuela, relaciones con los vecinos, reliogiosidad familiar y factores que reflejan los antecedentes culturales del estudiante- están incluidos en estos análisis. Los resultados de regresión logistica binomio demuestran que los efectos del tipo de la escuela; la actitud de los fumadores de su ambiente; la presencia de la madastra; el uso de alcohol del padre; hermanas y hermanos fumadores; el uso del alcohol de los estudiantes del medio y la participación en las actividades de arte, son las causas principales que estimulan a los jóvenes.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article cherche à déterminer les raisons de fumage entre les lycéens à ankara, Turquie. Les donnés ont été collecté auprès de 4800 lycéens pendant le deuxième semestre de l'année scolaire 1997–1998 et ceci afin de mesurer la prédominance de ce phénomène auprès des jeunes. En plus de variables explicatives classiques, d'autres facteurs rarement utilisés auparavant dans la littérature, ont été introduits telsque le type de lycée, le voisinage, la réligion, ainsi que des facteurs representant la structure culturelle des étudiants. Les résultats d'une regression binomiale logique, indique que les facteurs prédeterminants sont: le type de l'école, l'attitude vis à vis de fumage, la présence d'une belle-mère, l'alcholisme du père, la présence des sœurs ou frères fumeurs, et finalement l'alcolisme de l'élève lui-même ainsi que sa participation dans des activités artistiques.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yusuf Ziya Özcan

Yusuf Ziya Özcan obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and is currently an associate professor of sociology at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. He teaches statistics and research methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels in the Department of Sociology. He has published in the areas of social stratification and social mobility, responses rate in surveys, social control and deviance, police, migration, social effects of communication technologies, and political behavior. His recent research interest is substance use and abuse from a comparative perspective.

Kivilcim Metin Özcan

Kivilcim Metin Özcan is an assistant professor of Economics at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. She received her D.Phil from the University of Oxford. Her research interests are macroeconomic modelling and time series analysis of aggregated macroeconomic and financial data. Her work has appeared in Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, European Journal of Operational Research, Applied Financial Economics, and Empirical Economics.