Family Smoking, Exposure to Secondhand Smoke at Home and Family Unhappiness in Children

Jian Jiu Chen, Sai Yin Ho, Wing Man Au, Man Ping Wang and Tai Hing Lam
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Jian Jiu Chen: School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Sai Yin Ho: School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Wing Man Au: School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Man Ping Wang: School of Nursing, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Tai Hing Lam: School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Tobacco use adversely affects many aspects of well-being and is disliked by non-smokers. However, its association with family happiness is unknown. We investigated the associations of family unhappiness with smoking in family members and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home in Hong Kong children. In a school-based survey in 2012–2013, 1238 primary school students (mean age 8.5 years, standard deviation 0.9; 42.6% boys) reported family smoking, SHS exposure at home and whether their families had any unpleasant experience caused by smoking or SHS in the past 30 days (tobacco-related unpleasant experience), and rated the overall level of happiness in their families (family unhappiness). Multivariable logistic regression was used to study the associations of tobacco-related unpleasant experience and family unhappiness with family smoking and SHS exposure at home. Tobacco-related unpleasant experience and family unhappiness were reported by 27.5% and 16.5% of students. Unpleasant experience was more strongly associated with family smoking than SHS exposure at home. Family unhappiness was associated with both family smoking (odds ratio 2.37; 95% confidence interval 1.51–3.71) and SHS exposure at home (1.82; 1.39–2.40). These results suggest a previously neglected possible impact of tobacco use on family happiness.

Keywords: happiness; secondhand smoke; family; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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