The Impact of Family Relationships on the Smoking Habits of University Students

Smoking habits are thought to be strongly impacted by family relationships. In this study, we looked specifically at family relationships with the aim of finding effective anti-smoking education measures. We surveyed 290 university students in order to establish their current smoking habits, along with their family relationships from primary and junior high school until now. The results showed that students with one or more smokers in their family were clearly more likely to smoke. Furthermore, a poor relationship between the student’s parents and a poor relationship with his/her father are believed to have a causal relationship with the student smoking. In the section in which students were asked how often they were told to study, we found that students who smoked had been instructed to study a significantly higher number of times. It is believed that the stress experienced by students frequently told that they must study during their elementary or junior high school years leads to a tendency to smoke. Among the group of non-smokers, we found many who ate breakfast with their parents during elementary or junior high school, along with many who regularly went on holidays with their families. The lack of these things appears to distance parents from children and may be a factor regarding why children end up smoking. In this study, while no clear correlation was found between family relationships and smoking, several types of family relationships that may lead to smoking were suggested.