BACKGROUND: Tobacco use among adolescents remains an important public health issue.This study investigated the association between parental migration and adolescents’ tobacco use among adolescents in western China, including its mediating and moderating mechanism.
METHODS: This study was conducted among adolescents in Qinghai Province, China from April 1 to May 31, 2023. The participants were recruited via stratified random sampling. The cross-sectional study measured adolescents’ tobacco use (including cigarettes and e-cigarettes use) and social environment factors. Pathway analysis was used to examine the moderation effect of tobacco products sales exposure and mediation effect of loneliness in the relationship between parental migration and tobacco use.
RESULTS: A total of 2811 adolescents involved. The mean age of the sample was 14,53 years (SD = 1.99), and 49.5% were girls. The prevalence of current cigarettes use and e-cigarettes use among adolescents were 10.4% and 3.3%, respectively. Parental migration was directly associated with cigarettes use (b=0.18, 95%CI 0.04, 0.32) and e-cigarettes use (b=0.24, 95%CI 0.09, 0.38) for adolescents who were exposure to tobacco products sales. While loneliness was serving as a mediator in the association between parental migration and cigarettes use (b =0.014, 95%CI 0.01, 0.02) and e-cigarettes use (b =0.02, 95%CI 0.01, 0.03) for adolescents who were not exposure to tobacco products sales.
CONCLUSIONS: The tobacco control strategies and surveillance should be strengthened in school neighborhood. Health education and interventions are warranted for adolescents, especially who were with parental migration in underdeveloped areas in China.