Cigarette smoking and coping strategies with stress in young adults in Larestan

Introduction: Stress and strategies to cope with it are considered as two important factors in smoking. It is necessary to study different aspects of smokers’ methods to adapt with stress, because unhealthy behaviors, though pleasurable, such as smoking are weak and ineffective ways to cope with stress. The aim of this study was investigate the strategies for coping with stress in young adults smokers.Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, ۳۴۸ smoker men aged ۲۰-۴۰ years from Lar city participated. Farsi version of Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) was used to data collection. The data was analyzed by using SPSS.Results: The mean age of samples were ۲۹.۵۳±۵.۹۲ years, and they consumed an average of ۱۰.۵۲±۱.۴۷ cigarettes per day. In terms of educational level: ۳۹ (۱۱.۲%) of the subjects were illiterate; most of them had primary (۳۷.۴%) and middle school education (۳۱.۶%). The mean score of coping strategies in the problem-focused and the emotion-focused were respectively ۲۵.۳۰±۵.۳۴ and ۳۹.۲۲±۷۵.۷. There was a statistically significant correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the type of emotion-focused coping strategies (r=۰.۱۵۳ and P-Value=۰.۰۰۳). There was no significant correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the problem-focused coping method (r=-۰.۰۶۵ and P-Value=۰.۲۲۳).Conclusion: In this study, samples used cigarette smoking to deal with stress which is a type of emotion-focused strategies. Therefore, it is necessary to learn healthy coping strategies for stress reduction. It helps to deal effectively with stress, and in general to improve the physical and psychological health.

Keywords:

Coping Strategies , Young Adults , Smoking , Stress