Smoking practices, risk perception of smoking, and environmental tobacco smoke exposure among 6th-grade students in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

This study assessed the smoking practices, risk perception of smoking, and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure among adolescents in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. We used a cross-sectional method to examine the smoking practices, risk perception of smoking, and ETS exposure of 6th-grade students (N=506), aged 11–13 years, attending six randomly selected middle schools. Schools were classified by school setting (i.e., public vs. private) and socioeconomic status (SES; i.e., low, middle, or high). The results indicated that 6th-grade students attending a public, low-SES school setting in Ciudad Juárez not only exhibited significantly higher rates of ETS exposure at home and in public places (p