Cigarette smoking and alcohol behaviour among adolescents in Italy

Abstract

The onset of cigarette smoking and alcohol con-sumption during early adolescence is of criticalsignificance since it may contribute to the devel-opment of a variety of diseases. Indeed, there is astrong link between smoking and alcohol consump-tion and the increasing mortality and morbidityrates of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases,cancer, and psychiatric disorders. In Italy, greatattention has been paid to prevention strategiesaimed at communicating health risks and reducingconsumption, and recently the parliament enactedmore comprehensive and aggressive tobacco con-trol legislation, which included restrictions onsmoking in all public settings and an increase inthe price of a packet of cigarettes.The purpose of this study was to evaluate theprevalence of cigarette smoking and alcohol con-sumption, and the knowledge concerning theirhealth effects among adolescents in Italy.This study was conducted from October toDecember 2002, involving 700 adolescents aged14–18 years randomly selected from randomlyselected public secondary classes in the city ofCatanzaro, Italy. Students completed an anon-ymous self-administered questionnaire in the class-room; participation was voluntary after providinginformed consent. The questionnaire includeditems on: socio-demographics; past and currentcigarette smoking and alcohol consumption beha-viour; knowledge and main sources of informationon the health effects of active and passivecigarette smoking and of alcohol consumption;number of adult family members and close friends