Youth’s narratives about family members smoking: parenting the parent- it’s not fair!

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Successful cancer prevention policies and programming for youth must be based on a solid understanding of youth’s conceptualization of cancer and cancer prevention. Accordingly, a qualitative study examining youth’s perspectives of cancer and its prevention was undertaken. Not surprisingly, smoking (i.e., tobacco cigarette smoking) was one of the dominant lines of discourse in the youth’s narratives. This paper reports findings of how youth conceptualize smoking with attention to their perspectives on parental and family-related smoking issues and experiences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seventy-five Canadian youth ranging in age from 11–19 years participated in the study. Six of the 75 youth had a history of smoking and 29 had parents with a history of smoking. Youth were involved in traditional ethnographic methods of interviewing and photovoice. Data analysis involved multiple levels of analysis congruent with ethnography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Youth’s perspectives of parents and other family members’ cigarette smoking around them was salient as represented by the theme: <it>It’s not fair.</it> Youth struggled to make sense of why parents would smoke around their children and perceived their smoking as an unjust act. The theme was supported by four subthemes: <it>1) parenting the parent about the dangers of smoking; 2) the good/bad parent; 3) distancing family relationships; and 4) the prisoner</it>. Instead of being <it>talked to</it> about smoking it was more common for youth to share stories of <it>talking to</it> their parents about the dangers of smoking. Parents who did not smoke were seen by youth as the good parent, as opposed to the bad parent who smoked. Smoking was an agent that altered relationships with parents and other family members. Youth who lived in homes where they were exposed to cigarette smoke felt like a trapped prisoner.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Further research is needed to investigate youth’s perceptions about parental cigarette smoking as well as possible linkages between youth exposed to second hand smoke in their home environment and emotional and lifestyle-related health difficulties. Results emphasize the relational impact of smoking when developing anti-tobacco and cancer prevention campaigns. Recognizing the potential toll that second-hand smoke can have on youth’s emotional well-being, health care professionals are encouraged to give youth positive messages in coping with their parents’ smoking behaviour.</p

Pain Severity and Smoking Abstinence Expectancies among Latinx Individuals Who Smoke Cigarettes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Discrimination

Latinx individuals experience significant health disparities related to smoking cessation in the United States (US). Although past works have consistently implicated pain in the maintenance of smoking behavior, limited research has examined the role of social determinants (e.g., perceived discrimination) in pain–smoking relations. The current study sought to examine the moderating role of perceived discrimination in the relation between pain severity and smoking abstinence expectancies (i.e., a cognitive factor related to poor smoking outcomes) among 226 Latinx individuals who currently smoke cigarettes (Mage = 34.95 years; SD = 8.62; 38.5% female). The results indicated a statistically significant interaction between pain severity and perceived discrimination with regard to smoking abstinence expectancies (i.e., negative mood, somatic symptoms, harmful consequences, and positive consequences). Post-hoc analyses revealed the association of pain severity and negative mood, harmful consequences, and positive consequences smoking abstinence expectancies evident for individuals with higher perceived discrimination. Moreover, the association between pain severity and somatic symptoms smoking abstinence expectancies was stronger for individuals with higher perceived discrimination. Overall, these results suggest that clinical and community-based public health strategies may benefit from addressing the role of perceived discrimination among Latinx individuals who smoke cigarettes in the context of pain

Opioid and Cannabis Co-Use among Adults With Chronic Pain: Relations to Substance Misuse, Mental Health, and Pain Experience

OBJECTIVES: Opioid misuse constitutes a significant public health problem and is associated with a host of negative outcomes. Despite efforts to curb this increasing epidemic, opioids remain the most widely prescribed class of medications. Prescription opioids are often used to treat chronic pain despite the risks associated with use, and chronic pain remains an important factor in understanding this epidemic. Cannabis is another substance that has recently garnered attention in the chronic pain literature, as increasing numbers of individuals use cannabis to manage chronic pain. Importantly, the co-use of substances generally is associated with poorer outcomes than single substance use, yet little work has examined the impact of opioid-cannabis co-use. METHODS: The current study examined the use of opioids alone, compared to use of opioid and cannabis co-use, among adults (n = 450) with chronic pain on mental health, pain, and substance use outcomes. RESULTS: Results suggest that, compared to opioid use alone, opioid and cannabis co-use was associated with elevated anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, and sedative use problems, but not pain experience. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight a vulnerable population of polysubstance users with chronic pain, and indicates the need for more comprehensive assessment and treatment of chronic pain