Public health researchers led by Nicole Haderlein, who conducted the work as part of her master of public health thesis at Brown University, found a strong link between exposure to violence and teen cigarette and e-cigarette use. The study, with senior author Alexander Sokolovsky, was published in Substance Use & Misuse.
The team analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (a national survey from the Centers for Disease Control). They looked at boys and girls across two time periods and measured bullying, cyberbullying, sexual violence and domestic violence both separately and together to assess combined effects.
About one in five youth reported bullying, roughly 15% reported cyberbullying, and about 5% reported sexual or domestic violence. Each form of violence exposure was associated with increased past 30-day frequency of cigarette and e-cigarette use. The researchers also found a dose–response pattern: risk rose when young people experienced multiple forms of violence.
In 2021 the link between violence and recent cigarette use was stronger for boys than girls, but by 2023 no sex differences appeared for either cigarette or e-cigarette use. The authors suggest routine assessment by medical providers, teachers and counselors and say that violence prevention and early intervention may reduce youth tobacco use.
Difficult words
- exposure — being subject to something harmful or unpleasant
- violence — use of physical force that can hurt people
- bullying — repeated aggressive behavior by peers
- cyberbullying — using phones or internet to harm or threaten
- survey — a set of questions asked to many people
- dose–response — a pattern where more exposure increases the effect
- intervention — action taken to improve a situation or health
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Why might exposure to different kinds of violence increase a young person's tobacco use?
- What could schools and doctors do to identify students who may be at risk because of violence?
- Do you think routine questions about violence from teachers and medical providers would help? Why or why not?
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