Prevalence, risk factors, and protective factors of tobacco use among school-going adolescents at drug-abuse hot-spots in Malaysia

Ismail, R, Hassan, SA, Shukor, MS, Shafurdin, NS, Hanafi, N, Aljaberi, MA, Lin, C-Y and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2025. Prevalence, risk factors, and protective factors of tobacco use among school-going adolescents at drug-abuse hot-spots in Malaysia. Addictive Behaviors, 171: 108455. ISSN 0306-4603

Preview

Text 2489908_Griffiths.pdf - Published version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The high prevalence rate of tobacco consumption among teenage school students has become a global issue with profound implications for their developmental trajectory. Research conducted at drug-abuse hot-spots as a proximal factor related to tobacco use has been limited. Therefore, the present study examined the prevalence, risk factors, and protective factors of tobacco use among adolescents at drug-abuse hot-spots in Malaysia. Through stratified random sampling, the nationwide sample comprised 3382 school-going adolescents (71.4% male; mean age = 15.35 years [SD = 2.79]). The prevalence of tobacco use was 19.0% for current use and 28.5% for lifetime use. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that being male, being an older adolescent, living in urban areas, living many years in the hot-spot area, parental divorce, and having a high external locus of control were significant risk factors for tobacco use. High internal locus of control and good problem-coping skills were protective factors for tobacco use. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed for the prevention and intervention of tobacco use among school-going adolescents.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Addictive Behaviors
Creators:	Ismail, R., Hassan, S.A., Shukor, M.S., Shafurdin, N.S., Hanafi, N., Aljaberi, M.A., Lin, C.-Y. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	December 2025
Volume:	171
ISSN:	0306-4603
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108455 DOI S0306460325002163 Publisher Item Identifier 2489908 Other
Rights:	© 2025 the author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	03 Sep 2025 09:37
Last Modified:	03 Sep 2025 09:50
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54286

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads