Survey of the relationship between optimism and tobacco smoking status among 18-50 years old males in Mahabad city in 2019

Abstract

Introduction: In addition to physical and psychological effects on the individual, smoking is considered a major social problem because it threatens the health of society in terms of social, political, economic and cultural aspects. Many factors influence the onset of smoking in adolescents. On the other hand, various studies have shown optimism as an effective psychological factor in healthy behaviors. But few studies have examined the relationship between optimism and smoking. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between optimism and smoking status (cigarettes, hookah, etc.) in men aged 18 to 50 years in Mahabad. This cross-sectional study was performed in the academic year of 1397-98 in Mahabad city of West Azerbaijan province. A total of 338 men aged 18 to 50 years in Mahabad city were included in the study by convenience sampling method and a questionnaire including demographic characteristics, smoking status and Martin Seligman adult document style questionnaire was completed by the subjects. Data were analyzed using U-Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman and logistic regression tests. Results: The results of this study showed that marital status, level of education and socio-economic status have a significant relationship with optimism score. Single people are more optimistic than married people, people with higher education are more optimistic than people with lower education and people with better socio-economic status have higher average optimism scores. But the relationship between age and total optimism score and its dimensions was not significant. Also, no significant differences were observed in terms of optimism score and its dimensions between smoking and non-smoking groups. Discussion and Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that optimism is one of the effective factors in smoking in men. Further studies are suggested to examine the relationship between smoking and optimism in men. Keywords: smoking, hookah, pipe, men, optimism