Skip to main content
PMC home page
Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2002 Sep 1;93(5):356–359. doi: 10.1007/BF03404569

Part-time Work and Cigarette Use Among Teenagers

Does Age Moderate this Relationship?

F Curtis Breslin 110,210,✉, Edward M Adlaf 210,310
PMCID: PMC6980075  PMID: 12353457

Abstract

Objectives: Previous studies on part-time work and substance use suggest that those teenagers working longer hours during the school year use cigarettes more frequently than those working less or not at all. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether age moderates the relationship between part-time work hours and smoking status.

Methods: This 1999 study consisted of a cross-sectional survey of 4,297 junior high and high school students aged 13 to 19 from 111 randomly selected schools in Ontario.

Results: Compared to not working at all, moderate (11 to 20 hours/week) to long (21+ hours) work hours was more strongly associated with the probability of being a smoker among young teenagers (13 to 16 years old). Work intensity was only weakly associated with cigarette use in late adolescence (17 to 19 years old).

Conclusions: Working longer hours during school is associated with cigarette use, particularly among young teenagers. Although these cross-sectional data prohibit any firm conclusions regarding causality, the strong association observed among young teenagers increases the plausibility of early work transition being a risk factor for initiating smoking.

References

  • 1.Benowitz N. Tobacco. In: Benowitz N, Plum F, editors. Cecil Textbook of Medicine. 20th. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Co; 1996. pp. 33–36. [Google Scholar]
  • 2.McGinnis M, Foege W. Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA. 1993;270:2207–12. doi: 10.1001/jama.1993.03510180077038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Wigle D, Mao Y, Semenciw M, McCann C, Davies J. Premature deaths in Canada: Impact, trends and opportunities for prevention. Can J Public Health. 1990;81:376–81. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.US Dept of HealthHuman Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 1994. [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Morello P, Duggan A, Adger H, Anthony J, Joffe A. Tobacco use among high school students in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Am J Public Health. 2001;91(2):219–24. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.91.2.219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Wang M, Fitzhugh E, Westerfield R, Eddy J. Family and peer influences on smoking behavior among American adolescents: An age trend. J Adolescent Health. 1995;16:200–03. doi: 10.1016/1054-139X(94)00097-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Statistics Canada. Youths and the Labour Market. Ottawa: Statistics Canada; 1999. [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Mortimer JT, Finch MD, Dennehy K, Lee C, Beebe T. Work experience in adolescence. J Vocational Education Research. 1994;19(1):39–70. [Google Scholar]
  • 9.National Research Council. Protecting Youth at Work: Health, Safety, and Development of Working Children and Adolescents in the United States. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1998. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Frone MR. Developmental consequences of youth employment. In: Barling J, Kelloway EK, editors. Young Workers: Varieties of Experience. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 1999. pp. 89–128. [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Bachman JG, Schulenberg J. How part-time work intensity relates to drug use, problem behavior, time use, and satisfaction among high school seniors: Are these consequences or correlates? Developmental Psychology. 1993;29(2):220–35. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.29.2.220. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Mortimer JT, Finch MD, Ryu S, Shanahan MJ, Call KT. The effects of work intensity on adolescent mental health, achievement, and behavioral adjustment. Child Development. 1996;67:1243–61. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01793.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Steinberg L, Greenberger E, Garduque L, Ruggiero M, Vaux A. Effects of working on adolescent development. Developmental Psychology. 1982;18:385–95. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.385. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Safron D, Schulenberg J, Bachman J. Part-time work and hurried adolescence: The links among work intensity, social activities, health behaviors, and substance use. J Health Soc Behav. 2001;42:425–49. doi: 10.2307/3090188. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.McMorris B, Uggen C. Alcohol employment in the transition to adulthood. J Health Soc Behav. 2000;41:276–94. doi: 10.2307/2676321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Newcomb MD, Bentler PM. Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Lives of Young Adults. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 1988. [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Donovan JE, Jessor R. Structure of problem behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. J Consulting & Clinical Psychology. 1985;53:890–904. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.53.6.890. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Gottfredson M, Hirschi T. A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; 1990. [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Mihalic S, Elliot D. Short- and long-term consequences of adolescent work. Youth & Society. 1997;28:464–98. doi: 10.1177/0044118X97028004004. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Adlaf E, Paglia A, Ivis F. Drug Use Among Ontario Students, 1977–1999: Findings from the OSDUS. Toronto: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; 1999. [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Stata 7.0. College Station, TX: Stata Corporation, 2001.
  • 22.Korn EL, Graubard BI. Simultaneous testing of regression coefficients with complex survey data: Use of Bonferroni t statistics. American Statistician. 1990;44:270–76. [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Jaccard J. Interaction Effects in Logistic Regression. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage; 2001. [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES