Correlation between tobacco control policies and the smoking behaviors of European adolescents from 2005 to 2019.

Abstract

Despite legislative efforts, tobacco smoking prevalence among European adolescents remains high and heterogeneous between countries. While tobacco control policies, often assessed using Tobacco Control Scale (TCS), have been studied in adults, their influence on preventing adolescent smoking initiation remains unknown. This ecological study investigates the correlation between tobacco control policies implementation and adolescents smoking behavior across 25 European countries. Correlation analyses were conducted using TCS scores from 2005 to 2016, and 2007 to 2019 data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs. Total TCS scores inversely correlated with adolescents' smoking prevalence, as did the prohibition of tobacco advertising. The effect of prices increases have progressively faded, as bans on smoking in public spaces. Information campaigns are poorly implemented, and treatments for addiction do not show effect on adolescents. Besides further raises in cigarette prices, policies should target the smoking social perception to curb adolescent tobacco use.