Smoking is a risk factor for many severe diseases and is a serious public health problem. Snus is also considered with some health harming effects but more studies are needed to establish the severity of it. Studies have shown that tobacco use is common among adolescents and that there seems to be relationship between tobacco use and mental illness.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tobacco use among students in ninth grade compulsory school and second grade students in upper secondary school, and to investigate possible relationships between tobacco use and psychosomatic symptoms and whether there are gender differences in these possible relationships. The study is based on a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Survey of adolescent life in Vestmanland 2012.
Results show that second grade students in upper secondary school smoke and use snus to a greater extent than ninth grade students of compulsory school. Compared to the students who did not use any tobacco, a larger proportion of the tobacco using students, especially smokers experience psychosomatic symptoms. The proportion that experiences symptoms is significantly higher among girls, especially smoking girls, compared with boys.
The conclusion is that there is a relationship between tobacco use and psychosomatic symptoms and that it is possible that some adolescents may be at double health risks because of tobacco use and a reduced mental health. Special efforts towards young people may be needed to help prevent the use of tobacco and psychosomatic symptoms.
Keywords: Adolescents, public health, psychosomatic symptoms, Survey of adolescent life In Vestmanland, tobacco use.