The California Student Tobacco Survey - 991 Words

The 2011-2012 California Student Tobacco Survey (CSTS) provides an opportunity to explore this relationship as this will be the first investigation into this relationship with this particular data set. The 2011-2012 CSTS is a large-scale in-school student survey that asks questions about smoking behaviors, SHS smoke exposure, attitudes about school and local smoking policies, and depressive symptoms. Hypotheses Specific Aims This study was a secondary data analysis of the 2011-2012 CSTS. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between SHS exposure in cars and homes and depressive symptoms in children via the following research questions: RQ1: Is SHS exposure in homes associated with depressive symptoms among†¦show more content†¦Participants Participants included in this study were those who self-identified as never-smokers. Approximately, 77.4% survey respondents were nonsmokers; this sample included 51.7% females, and 48.3% males. Majority of the participants in this study self-identified as â€Å"Hispanic/Latino† (45.1%). Almost a quarter of respondents self-identified as â€Å"White† (24.8%), while 14.1% were â€Å"Asian/Pacific Islander†, 5.5% were â€Å"African American†, 0.5% were â€Å"American Indian/Alaska Native† and 6% of respondents identified as â€Å"other† being two or more races. Measures This study was limited to students who self-identified themselves as never-smokers. Never-smokers were those who answered â€Å"I’ve never smoked cigarettes† to the question â€Å"Now think about 12 months ago. At this time last year, about how much were you smoking?† Independent variables being used in this study included age, gender, and SHS Exposure in cars and homes as probed by the survey questions as presented in the 2011-2012 CSTS: 1. â€Å"During the past 7 days, on how many days did you ride in a car with someone who was smoking cigarettes?† 2. â€Å"During the past 7 days, on how many days were you in the same room AT HOME with someone who was smoking cigarettes?† The answer choices to these two questions ranged from 0 days to 7 days. These two