Smoking cessation treatment targets adolescents

Preventable deaths are those that can be stymied by public health intervention, and deaths related to tobacco use are at the top of that list in the United States as well as globally.

And while rates of adolescent smoking have declined over the years, 4.9 million middle and high school students reported using tobacco in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The primary focus of smoking cessation research in the past has always been adults, but a new study in JAMA Pediatrics zeroed in on adolescents. “Too often, we make the assumption that adolescents are just little adults,” said Kevin Gray, M.D., a psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor and physician at the Medical University of South Carolina. “And so, we treat them the same way as we do our adult patients. But it’s much more complicated than that.”

One of the key differences in treating adolescents is the pressure surrounding their smoking habit. Adolescents are more likely than adults to start using addictive substances, and they are more likely to do something risky without considering the long-term consequences. “Most people who decide it’s time to quit are well into adulthood,” said Gray. “Oftentimes, their health consequences are becoming quite real for them.” Adolescents don’t usually experience health issues related to smoking until much later.

Full article: Smoking cessation treatment targets adolescents