Abstract
Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) is an important risk factor for adolescents’ health. Several studies have reported that SHS is as dangerous as active smoking. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to SHS and mental health, including stress, depression, and suicidal ideation, in adolescents. Methods: Using raw data from the 2018 14th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey, we analyzed the effects of sociodemographic characteristics on stress, depression, suicidal ideation in 51,500 students, including 85.8% of all sampled students (n = 60,040), after excluding students with a history of smoking, and then we performed logistic regression analysis to determine the level of exposure to SHS and its impact on stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Results: The increased level of exposure to SHS was positively associated with stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, stress, depression, and suicidal ideation increased as the level of SHS increased, after adjusting for variables such as age, gender, education level of the father and mother, school achievement, economic status, inhabitation, and drinking. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that SHS is positively associated with risk of mental health problems, including stress, depression, and suicidal ideation, in adolescents. Further research and policy strategies and systems to prevent and manage exposure to SHS in adolescents are required.
Highlights
Secondhand smoke (SHS) is defined as unwanted smoke that people breathe in from cigarettes other people are smoking [1]
Older age was associated with a higher prevalence of stress and depression, but its effect on the prevalence of suicidal ideation was not statistically significant
As for gender difference, female students had a higher prevalence of stress, depression, and suicidal ideation than male students
Summary
Secondhand smoke (SHS) is defined as unwanted smoke that people breathe in from cigarettes other people are smoking [1]. SHS is reported to be associated with mental health problem in various epidemiologic studies [4,5,6,7]. Cigarette components are known to affect mental health. Several preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that nicotine affects mood, anxiety, aggression, and related behaviors, such as irritability and agitation [9]. The role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in regulating mood and anxiety has been elucidated based on the effects of nicotine on aggression-related behavioral states in animal models. This study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to SHS and mental health, including stress, depression, and suicidal ideation, in adolescents. Results: The increased level of exposure to SHS was positively associated with stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Stress, depression, and suicidal ideation increased as the level of SHS increased, after adjusting for variables such as age, gender, education level of the father and mother, school achievement, economic status, inhabitation, and drinking
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