The Chronicle

Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: News
Last update: 2/25/08 at 6:38 AM EST

Media Credit: Max Masnick Dr. Bernard Fuemmeler, an assistant professor of community and family medicine, says young adults who witness or experience physical or sexual assaults are twice as likely to begin smoking within a year.

Although smoking rates among the general population continue to decline, Duke researchers have identified risk factors that drive some young people to defy the trend and pick up the habit.

The study, which appears in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that adolescents who witnessed or were involved in a physical assault were twice as likely to begin smoking within a year of the incident. Additionally, those exposed to physical or sexual abuse in early childhood faced an increased risk of becoming a regular smoker at an earlier age than the national average.

"When people suffer a traumatic event, they can experience an emotional shock to the system," said Dr. Bernard Fuemmeler, assistant professor of community and family medicine and one of the study's lead researchers. "Sometimes people turn to substances like nicotine because they feel that it helps them cope."

The researchers examined data gathered by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of approximately 15,000 adolescents tracked from 1995 to 2002. Participants, who entered the study at an average age of 15.6 years old, were given a series of surveys which included questions about their exposure to traumatic events and smoking behaviors. Events classified as traumatic included unwanted sexual contact, physical assault and interpersonal violence among partners or friends.

A nicotine-dependence test was also administered, allowing Fuemmeler and his team to uncover a positive correlation between childhood trauma and smoking frequency.

"There is a great need to intervene early, especially among those who might be at high risk," he said. "If we know the warning signs of risky behaviors, like smoking, we may be able to prevent them."

Fuemmeler said the study was unique in that it examined the association between trauma and smoking risk in a national sample of adolescents. Other research had focused on clinical or high-risk populations, he added.

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