Health Sciences Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Science

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Health Care Sciences – Health Science Department

First Advisor

Elliot Sklar

Date of original Performance / Presentation

January 2024

Publication Date / Copyright Date

1-1-2024

Abstract

Background: Although there is emerging research about the impact of Tobacco 21 (T21) legislation, state level implications in Texas are not yet understood. T21 was expected to substantially reduce tobacco use among adolescents 15 to 17 due to diminished opportunity for social exchange. The current research aimed to determine if there was a relationship between past 30-day tobacco use among 15- to 17-year-old Texas students before and after the enactment of T21 by gender, Hispanic and Latino ethnicity, and race. Methods: Using cross-sectional studies from the 2018 (N=4,633) and 2021 (N=6,926) Texas Youth Tobacco Surveys, chi square analysis was conducted to determine relationships between past 30-day tobacco use and age, gender, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and race by year. Data were delimited to students between 15 to 17 years. Results: The relationship between past 30-day tobacco use among Texas school-aged students 15 to 17 before and after the enactment of T21 in 2019 was significant (p < .001), with a lower proportion of use in 2021. Further, the relationships between past 30-day tobacco use and the variables of gender, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and race were also significant (p < .001), with a lower proportion of use among Texas students in 2021 than 2018. Conclusion: Following the implementation of T21 in Texas, past 30-day tobacco usage rates appeared to decline among students when examined by age, gender, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and race. Reducing access to tobacco through policy is correlated with reduced youth tobacco usage in Texas.

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

Texas Youth Tobacco Survey; Tobacco 21 legislation; Youth tobacco use

Download
To access this thesis/dissertation you must have a valid nova.edu OR mynsu.nova.edu email address and create an account for NSUWorks.

Free My Thesis

If you are the author of this work and would like to grant permission to make it openly accessible to all, please click the Free My Thesis button.

  Contact Author

Share

 
COinS