Factors Influencing Smoking among Multicultural Adolescents

Since an increasing number of multicultural adolescents have started smoking in Korean society, it is necessary to check the smoking status among multicultural adolescents and provide differentiated smoking cessation education and awareness through intervention programs. This study examined the factors that influenced smoking among multicultural adolescents and identified interventions. This study was a cross-sectional survey. It used raw data from the 15th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS) of 2019. Of the 57,303 participants in the 15th KYRBS, 749 were multicultural adolescents, i.e., their fathers or mothers were not born in Korea. The factors affecting smoking among multicultural adolescents were determined using a composite sample multiple logistic regression analysis. The results of the composite sample multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that 41 (6.4%) participants were smokers, had low academic performance levels, drank alcohol, were sexually active, and were more likely to smoke with other adolescents. They were 15.79 times more likely to smoke while drinking than when not drinking. Educational and psychological interventions are needed to increase multicultural youth school adaptation and academic performance levels, reduce health risk behaviors (drinking and sexually active), and ultimately, lower the smoking rate.