Relationship among School Connectedness, Smoking Policy, and Smoking Behavior in Finnish Vocational Schools

Objective: We examined school connectedness as a significant predictor of adolescent well-being. Methods: We analyzed data for 34,776 adolescents who took part in the School Health Promotion study in Finland. We used a multinomial regression model to assess the associations among adolescent smoking, school connectedness, and anti-smoking policies. Results: A lower level of perceived teacher support, disliking school, and more than 2 days of skipping school increased the odds of smoking behavior among vocational students. In addition, school staff smoking and close monitoring of student smoking were associated with increased smoking among students. Conclusions: Our results suggest that it is possible to reduce the odds of smoking by enhancing school connectedness and by enforcing anti-smoking school policies.