163213 Prevalence of smoking among youth incarcerated in VA 1999-2003

Wednesday, November 7, 2007: 3:42 PM

Elizabeth Lloyd McGarvey, EdD , Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Dennis Waite, PhD , Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Ruth Gaare Bernheim, JD, MPH , Division of Public Health Policy and Practice, University of Virgina School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA
Claudia Linares, MS , Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
     
There is much attention paid to smoking prevention among adolescents in schools and in the general population. Information on tobacco smoking among youth based on survey data may under-report rates of use among school dropouts, the homeless and those who refuse to participate in voluntary response surveys. As such, less may be known about the smoking behaviors and motivations among high risk youth who are are incarcerated compared to those who are not. This study reports the prevalence of tobacco smoking and related issues among the population of youth incarcerated in VA over a 5-years period, 1999-2003. The rates of smoking declined from 1999 to 2003. Data are compared to national survey results from Monitoring the Future, 2004. Differences in tobacco smoking behaviors are examined by age, sex, and race/ethnicity of youth and other factors. Policy and prevention programming implications are discussed.

Learning Objectives:
1. Knowledge of the rates of smoking by incarcerated youth over a 5-year period compared to similar age youth in the general population. 2. Awareness of the differences in self-smoking, smoking by peers among incarcerated adolescents by sex and race/ethnicty. 3. Understanding of coocurring substance use patterns among this population.

Keywords: Prison, Smoking

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Tobacco and Special Populations
See more of: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs