The Role of Ethnic Differences on Adolescents' Smoking Experience in Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study in Varamin

Introduction: Participation in leisure activities with peers and family gatherings is beneficial, but some activities may increase harmful health behaviors, such as smoking. This study investigates for the first time how students in Varamin County, Tehran, Iran, perceive smoking during their leisure time. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 and involved 319 school-going adolescents in Varamin County, Tehran, Iran (aged 16-18 years) who completed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire on the use of tobacco products which was designed based on the Likert scale. After completing the questionnaires, the data were analyzed using, frequency (percentage), t-test (Independent Two-sample), analysis of variance (One-way ANOVA), Kendall’s and Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and the chi-square test (less than 0.01). Results: Overall, five ethnicities in the target population were examined in this study. Smoking among Arab, Fars, and Lur ethnicities, with mean scores of 4, 3.6, and 3.41, respectively, is higher than smoking among Turk, other ethnicities, and Kurd groups, with mean scores of 2.86, 2.36, and 2. In addition, smoking in family gatherings, the very low and low levels have the highest frequencies of 72 and 61, respectively, while smoking in friend gatherings, average and high levels have the highest frequencies, i.e., 99 and 57, respectively with (Sig: 0.000) is less than 0.01. Conclusions: This reinforces the need to be alert for, and respond to, gender and ethnic disparities in the pattern of risk and protective factors. Thus, leisure activities and ethnicity may be the key factors to tailor prevention programs to their unique characteristics and needs.