The Experiences of South-Western Taiwanese Male Adolescents Controlling Their Smoking After Exposure to an Education Program

Abstract

Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of chronic diseases and cancers worldwide. In south-western Taiwan, tobacco use has become one of the top risk behaviors. Smoking in young people has been associated with alcohol addiction and drug abuse in later life; and most smokers start young. Initiation of cigarette smoking at an early age leads to more life-years of tobacco use, makes quitting harder, and increases the risk for serious health consequences. How adolescent boys effectively control their tobacco use is still uncertain. The article explores on the experience of 12 adolescent boys in south-western Taiwan controlling tobacco use as a result of participating in a smoking prevention education program. In addition to the use of interviews and focus groups as the traditional method of data gathering, the lead author also included the use of participants’ paintings as representations of the participants’ lived experience of the phenomenon. The findings of the study suggest that adolescent boys with smoking experience in Taiwan had the desire to control their smoking behavior after obtaining information through a local education program. In addition, they chose suitable methods for controlling their smoking based on the information that had been provided.