Etiology of Smoking Tendency: A Qualitative Examination of the Experiences of Young Smokers

Background

Cigarette smoking has challenged the security and social context of youth, health and public health. On the other hand, the negligent view has caused the society to move more towards the normalization of smoking and the youth are attracted to it more and more every day. The aim of this study is to etiology the tendency to smoke by looking at the life experiences of young smokers.

Materials and Methods

This qualitative study was conducted in Tehran in 2020 using Phenomenological method and using semi-structured interviews with 14 young people aged 20 to 35 years who were smoking daily and continuously. Participants were selected using purposive sampling method. Sampling in order to receive the data continued until the saturation stage and then the collected data were analyzed by coding method.

Results

Analyzing participants' experiences led to the identification of 113 primary codes, 19 sub-categories, 8 subclass and finally 2 main categories. Subclasses included cognitive distortion of the effects of smoking, smoking to reduce psychological problems, consumption to compensate for the feeling of self-doubt, desire to consume when low mood, feeling different when consuming, desire to consume In response to art-induced emotions, easy access to cigarettes, the adverse effect of negative advertising and the main classes consisted of intrapersonal components and extrapersonal interpersonal components Tendency to smoke in youth.

Conclusion

Examining the lived experiences of young people in smoking causes a deeper understanding of the components of smoking and consequently leads to a better and faster understanding of other young people of these experiences.