Exploring Factors Contributing to the Smoking Behaviour among Hong Kong Chinese Young Smokers during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

COVID-19 has significant impacts on young smokers in their smoking behaviors. This qualitative study summarises the lived experience of young smokers during COVID-19. Moreover, through their lived experience, we aim to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic influence tobacco use behaviours in this population. A purposive sampling of 48 smokers aged between 17–25 years old is individually interviewed for 30 to 45 min. All interviews are transcribed in verbatim and analysed by two researchers separately using Colaizzi’s method of descriptive phenomenology. The results reveal the following six important themes, which could explain the mixed pattern of smoking behaviour changes in young smokers: (1) perceptions of COVID-19 and its association with smoking, (2) more time at home, (3) taking masks off to smoke, (4) the effects of COVID-19 on smokers’ financial status and academic performance, (5) reduced social gatherings, and (6) restricted access to tobacco products. To conclude, this pandemic and the anti-pandemic measures, i.e., mask mandates, stay-at-home and work-from-home orders, and class suspension, result in both new obstacles and new advantages for smoking cessation among young people. More studies should be performed to monitor any transition of tobacco products and the trajectory of use in this population during this pandemic, thus informing public health policy making.

Exploring Contributing Factors of Solitary Drinking among Hong Kong Chinese Adolescents and Young Adults: A Descriptive Phenomenology

“…We successfully achieved data saturation after recruiting and interviewing 44 respondents who were self-reported to exhibit solitary drinking behaviour. The current sample size was comparable to other descriptive phenomenological studies on addictive behaviours [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Of the respondents, 72.7% (n = 32) participated the interviews face-to-face, and the remaining opted to participate via online.…”

“…We suggest that future studies examine the role of the identified factors in this qualitative study, including enhancement and coping drinking motives, social discomfort, reduced self-control, automatic mental processes, and desperate reactions to stressors using a quantitative approach, and determine how these factors relate to solitary drinking among adolescents and young adults by controlling the confounders, such as socioeconomic factors via different statistical methods, such as linear or logistic regression. This sequential approach is also commonly adopted in the field of addictive behaviours [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 52 , 53 ]. Fifth, age would influence our respondents’ responses in the semi-structured interviews.…”

“…This approach is commonly used to summarize people’s lived experience and enables researchers to obtain in-depth descriptions of factors contributing to the phenomenon (i.e., solitary drinking) [ 22 ]. We also took reference to previous descriptive phenomenological studies on addictive behaviours in terms of the procedures and analysis methods [ 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”

A Descriptive and Phenomenological Exploration of the Spiritual Needs of Chinese Children Hospitalized with Cancer

“…Prior to the interviews, the researcher (QL) did not have any relationship established with the participants and their parents. This is a common practice in qualitative studies in this population group [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. In addition, all participants and their parents were told that QL was a PhD student from a University in Hong Kong.…”

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a sample of US young adults who smoke cigarettes: A qualitative analysis

“…The study interviewed adolescents from Hong Kong who smoked, purposively selecting equal numbers of those who had increased, decreased, or had not changed their smoking. The authors found that tobacco use behaviors patterns decreased as a result of spending more time at home, having fewer social gatherings, concern over finances, and decreases in access, while family tensions and lack of social interaction led to increases in smoking for others ( Lam et al, 2022 ). The authors also found that participants were aware that smoking could increase risks of COVID.…”