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영어

Purpose: Smoking among adolescents is a critical healthcare concern that needs to be tackled with respect to not only intrapersonal and interpersonal factors but also socio-cultural factors. This study was to identify the smoking behaviors and amount of tobacco consumption among adolescents, and to investigate the factors associated with the behaviors and amount. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted based on the theory of triadic influence using a nationally representative secondary data set, the 2018 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N=60,040). The analysis was performed by dividing smoking behaviors into lifetime, current, and daily smoking, and smoking amount into light, moderate, and heavy smoking. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: Overall, 8.2%, 3.2% and 3.4% of the adolescents were involved in lifetime, current, and daily smoking, respectively. In addition, 5.3%, 0.8%, and 0.6% of the adolescents were involved in light, moderate, and heavy smoking, respectively. The factor associated with smoking behaviors and the amount of tobacco consumed were gender, academic achievement, depression, living with family, close friend’s smoking, violent victimization, household economic status, and school level (all ps<.05). Conclusion: A considerable number of adolescents are engaged in risky smoking behaviors and consume large amounts of tobacco. Adolescents who said yes to peer smoking, violent victimization, not living with their family, and depressive emotions were more likely to engage in risky smoking behaviors and consume large amounts of tobacco. Tailored interventions to decrease smoking should be planed and provided, while considering the school and home environment and individual needs of adolescents.