Dataset Information

Exploring the association between school-based peer networks and smoking according to socioeconomic status and tobacco control context: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whilst prevalence of youth smoking in middle and high income countries has decreased, inequality has prevailed. The introduction of legislation regulating tobacco use in public spaces varies across countries, impacting the tobacco control context. Thus reviewing our knowledge of how social networks may influence smoking differently within different contexts is required to facilitate the development of context-specific interventions.

Methods

The search, conducted on 31st May 2019, included the following smoking-related terms; schools, adolescents, peers and social networks. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied throughout the title and abstract screening and full text screening. Quality assessment and synthesis followed. Studies were narratively synthesised to identify changes according to legislative context. This synthesis was conducted separately for findings relating to three categories: socioeconomic status; social selection and influence; and network position.

Results

Thirty studies were included. Differences in the relationship between network characteristics and smoking according to socioeconomic status were measured in five out of fifteen studies in Europe. Results varied across studies, with differences in network characteristics and their association with smoking varying both between schools of a differing and those of a similar socioeconomic composition. For studies conducted both before and after the introduction of comprehensive smoking legislation, the evidence for selection processes was more consistent than influence, which varied according to reciprocity. Findings showed that isolates were more likely to smoke and in-degree and out-degree centrality were related to smoking both before and after the introduction of legislation. The relationship between popularity and smoking was contingent on school level smoking prevalence in studies conducted before the introduction of legislation, but not after.

Conclusions

Overall, effects according to socioeconomic status were underreported in the included studies and no consistent evidence of change after the introduction of a comprehensive smoking ban was observed. Further network analyses are required using more recent data to obtain a comprehensive understanding of how network processes may influence smoking differently according to socioeconomic status, and how adaptation could be used to enhance intervention effectiveness.

Systematic review registration

International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registration number: CRD42019137358 .

SUBMITTER: Littlecott HJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8772141 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundSmoking remains a major public health concern. School-based social networks influence uptake of smoking among peers. During the past two decades, the UK macro-systemic context within which schools are nested and interact with has changed, with anti-smoking norms having become set at a more macro-systemic level. Whilst the overall prevalence of smoking in the UK has decreased, inequality has prevailed. It is plausible that the influence of school-based social networks on smoking uptake may vary according to socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study aims to understand how social influence on smoking among adolescents has changed in line with variance within and between contexts according to time and geography.MethodsThe following databases will be searched: Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), British Education Index, Sociological abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Scopus. Additional searches will include reference checking of key papers, citation tracking, word of mouth and grey literature searches. The search strategies will incorporate terms relating to smoking, adolescents, schools, peers, network analysis and qualitative research. Titles and abstracts and full texts will be independently screened and assessed for quality by at least two researchers. Included studies will be assessed for quality, and data will be extracted for synthesis, including participant characteristics, setting and tobacco control context, study design and methods, analysis and results and conclusions. Quantitative findings will be narratively synthesised, whilst a lines of argument synthesis combined with refutational analysis will be employed to synthesise qualitative data. Both sets of findings will be charted on a timeline to add context to network findings and obtain an enhanced understanding of changes over time.DiscussionThis protocol is for a mixed methods synthesis of both social network findings, to investigate social structures and qualitative studies, to elicit contextual information. The review will synthesise changes in the context of social influence on adolescent smoking over time and geographically. As context is increasingly recognised as a key source of complexity, this enhanced understanding will help to inform future interventions targeting smoking through social influence. This will help to enhance their relevance to context, subsequent effectiveness and targeting of inequalities.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42019137358.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Tobacco smoking is the largest preventable cause of global mortality, with its prevalence increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among adolescents. We sought to determine the factors associated with tobacco smoking among Nigerian school adolescents and investigate the interaction between school location and socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS:Using a cross-sectional study design, 4332 eighth to tenth grade students in rural and urban secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria, were selected by stratified two-stage cluster sampling. We collected data using a modified Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) Core Questionnaire. Outcome measures were current smoking of cigarettes and other smoked tobacco. Multilevel mixed effects logistic regression models were used to determine factors associated with current tobacco smoking and were considered statistically significant at p<0.05. RESULTS:Prevalences of current smoking of cigarettes and other smoked tobacco were 13.3% (95% CI: 11.3-15.7) and 5.8% (95% CI: 4.6-7.2), respectively. Possession of higher weekly allowance, exposure to secondhand smoke or tobacco advertisements, having smoking parents, friends or classmates who smoke, and sale of cigarettes near school, were positively associated with current smoking of tobacco. Female sex, having both parents employed and being exposed to tobacco teaching in school were negatively associated with current cigarette smoking while increasing age and high father's SES were negatively associated with current smoking of other tobacco products. There was an interaction between school location and father's SES in the association with cigarette smoking. The higher odds of smoking in rural versus urban schools were much higher for students with fathers of high SES compared to low SES. In rural schools, high SES was associated with higher odds of smoking, but in urban schools low SES was associated with higher odds of smoking. CONCLUSIONS Environmental factors are associated with adolescent tobacco smoking. Tobacco control programs should use targeted strategies that vary depending on the local context.

Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the feasibility of an innovative peer intervention promoting healthy eating and physical activity, which purposefully selected peer facilitators according to socioeconomic status to target less-advantaged overweight receivers.SettingNine high schools, two middle schools.ParticipantsOne hundred and fifty-six adolescents were approached to become facilitators, of whom 18 were trained. Thirty-two of 56 potential receivers agreed to participate.InterventionThe peer intervention was carried out in 2013-2014 and embedded in a larger trial: PRALIMAP-INÈS (Promotion de l'ALIMentation et l'Activité Physique-INEgalité de Santé). Facilitanoators were selected and trained to organise weight-control activities with specific peer receivers participating in the programme.Primary and secondary outcome measuresDifferent types of data were collected to assess demand, acceptability, implementation and practicality of the intervention. For the facilitators, this included 6 training sessions, 11 mid-programme interviews, 4 end-of-programme sessions, telephone notes and text message exchanges. All six potential receivers in one school were also interviewed. Sociodemographic and health characteristics were also analysed.ResultsAgreeing to participate was more likely when asked by a peer compared with a professional (51.2% discordant pairs; p<0.02). Twelve activities, mostly based on physical activity and implemented during weekends or holidays, were carried out. The mean age of active receivers was 16 and their body mass index was higher than other participants. For both facilitators and active receivers, there were more participating girls. Qualitative analysis reveals key implementation challenges for facilitators. Interviews with the receivers highlight social difficulties, with most feeling bad about their appearance and wanting to lose weight. Those who participated in peer activities were very positive about the experience especially social support.ConclusionsThe present study suggests the peer intervention is feasible provided organisational difficulties are addressed. Good practice recommendations are formulated, including a longer training session, organising a joint meeting with the facilitators and receivers, matching dyads on place of residence and multiplying modes of contact.Trial registration numberNCT01688453.