Adachi-Mejia AM, Primack BA, Beach ML, et al. Influence of movie smoking exposure and team sports participation on established smoking. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163(7):638-643.
The goal of this study was to examine the joint effects of movie smoking exposure and team sports participation on established smoking. A group of 2,048 youths ages 16 to 21 at the time of follow-up were given school and telephone-based surveys in New Hampshire and Vermont between September1999 and November 1999 and February 2006 through February 2007. Smoking exposure categorized in quartiles assessed when respondents were ages 9 to 14 years and team sports participation assessed when respondents were ages 16 to 21 years. This study measured established smoking (having smoked more than or equal to 100 cigarettes in one's lifetime) at follow-up. At follow-up, 353 respondents (17.2%) were established smokers. Exposure to the highest quartile of movie smoking compared with the lowest increased the likelihood of established smoking (OR = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.57), and team sports nonparticipants compared with participants were twice as likely to be established smokers (OR = 2.01; 95% CI, 1.47 to 2.74). The joint effects of movie smoking exposure and team sports participation revealed that at each quartile of movie smoking exposure, the odds of established smoking were greater for team sports nonparticipants than for participants. We saw a dose-response relationship of movie smoking exposure for established smoking only among team sports participants. As a result, team sports participation clearly plays a protective role against established smoking, even when also exposed to movie smoking. However, movie smoking exposure increases the risk of established smoking among both team sports participants and nonparticipants. Parents, teachers, coaches, and clinicians should be aware that encouraging team sports participation in tandem with minimizing early exposure to movie smoking may offer the greatest likelihood of preventing youth smoking.