| خلاصه مقاله | Background: Smoking cigarette is a major health problem that specifically affects the youth and adolescent population. As a psychosocial determinant of health, social capital and loneliness can influence health attitudes, behaviors and smoking cigarette. The aim of this study is to investigate the attitude toward smoking and its relationship with feelings of loneliness and social capital among medical students in Tabriz.
Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2019 on 538 students of the faculties of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Samples were selected by proportional sampling method. Students’ attitudes toward smoking, social capital and loneliness were assessed using the scale of cigarette smoking attitude (CSA), the social capital questionnaire (SCQ) and the revised version of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA-R) Loneliness questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 22), using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (Pearson test and multivariate linear regression).
Results: The mean scores of total attitude toward smoking, loneliness and social capital were 48.64 of 96, 41.42 of 80, and 105.19 of 180, respectively. Also, a negative and significant correlation was found between attitude toward smoking and social capital (r: -0.15, P<0.001). Moreover, a positive and significant correlation was found between attitude toward smoking and feeling of loneliness (r: 0.28, P<0.001).
Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that students had a negative attitude toward smoking. Also, the level of social capital and loneliness of students was moderate. Medical sciences students as future healthcare providers, who are expected to take an important role in reducing smoking rates in the community, should be supported to develop appropriate attitudes towards smoking. Promoting positive social capital and reducing feeling of loneliness among university students can improve their attitudes towards smoking. |