Objective: We examined the prevalence of smoking behaviors and their association with specific psychiatric disorders in a representative sample of youth from behavioral health clinics in Puerto Rico.
Method: A complex sampling design was used to select the sample, and analyses were conducted to account for the unequal selection probability, stratification, and clustering. All analyses were weighted back to the clinical population from which they were drawn. Psychiatric and substance use disorders were assessed using the parent and youth versions of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, Version 4.0.
Results: More than one third of the sample reported experience with cigarette smoking, and approximately one quarter reported smoking at least once per week (23.4%). As expected, the alcohol and drug use disorders demonstrated some of the strongest associations with individual smoking stages. These were the only disorders that remained significantly associated with nicotine dependence after controlling for comorbidity.
Conclusions: Our findings confirm the need for screening of smoking behavior and nicotine dependence in treatment settings and the integration of psychiatric/substance use treatments with smoking cessation.