Covariation of Cigarette Smoking and Other Health-Risk Behaviors Amaong Japanese High School Students: a Preliminary Study

This study aims to determine if cigarette smoking is associated with engaging in other health-risk behaviours among high school students in Japan. Self-administered questionnaires were given to 1,466 students in senior high schol in Okinawa. In the logistic regression models, controlled for sociodemographic variables, smoking was significantly associated with all health-risk behaviours, including suicide ideation, but excluding physical inactivity. The odds ratios for suicide ideation among current smokers as compared to non-smokers was 2.0 for the total sample (95% confidence interval); 1.5 for males, & 3.1 for females. 6.6% of male non-smokers reported suicide ideation compared to 12.4% of smokers. Among females, 9.6% of non-smokers reported suicide ideation compared to 30.3% of smokers. (24 refs.)