Self-efficacy and health warnings as predictors of smoking cessation intent among Moroccan adolescents: Evidence from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey data.

Loukili, Hamza; Fatimy, Rachid El; Amine, Mohamed

Introduction: According to the literature, quitting tobacco before the age of 30 years would mitigate almost all tobacco-related hazards. In this respect, understanding behavioral patterns associated with the process of individual change to a healthier behavior is likely to contribute to tobacco control and avoidance of the related health risks, as well as to promote healthier behaviors, especially during adolescence. Methods: This study is a secondary dataset analysis utilizing the 2016 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data for Morocco. Initially, a descriptive analysis is conducted to outline smoking prevalence and related behaviors among Moroccan youth, with a focus on gender differences, employing chi-squared tests for comparison. This is followed by bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, which were adjusted for potential confounders to identify the determinants of intended smoking cessation. Results: The survey was based on a sample of 3883 adolescents, of whom 11.07% have already tried smoking cigarettes at least once during childhood and adolescence, and 1.39% are current smokers. As for those close to the surveyed subjects, 22.2% had at least one smoking parent, and 24.1% had friends who smoked. Self-efficacy (AOR=15.54; 95% CI: 3.05–79.03) and noticing health warnings on cigarette packages (AOR=5.41; 95% CI: 2.54–11.52) were found to be important determinants of the intent to quit tobacco. Conclusions: This study is a focused analysis of self-efficacy and health warnings as predictors of smoking cessation intent among Moroccan adolescents. The study elucidates the role of self-efficacy and exposure to health warnings in shaping the intent to quit smoking among Moroccan adolescents. These findings provide evidence for developing targeted interventions that support self-efficacy and impactful health warnings to promote healthier choices and reduce tobacco use among young Moroccans.

MOROCCO; SMOKING cessation; LABELS; HEALTH behavior in adolescence; CROSS-sectional method; HEALTH literacy; SELF-efficacy; RESEARCH funding; SECONDARY analysis; RECEIVER operating characteristic curves; SMOKING; QUESTIONNAIRES; MULTIPLE regression analysis; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; CHI-squared test; TEENAGERS' conduct of life; INTENTION; STATISTICS; TOBACCO products; HEALTH promotion; DATA analysis software; CONFIDENCE intervals; ADOLESCENCE

Tobacco Induced Diseases, 2024, Vol 22, p1

2070-7266

Academic Journal

10.18332/tid/185647