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Behavior and attitudes towards smoking among teachers in Turkey

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Abstract

Aim

Investigation of the attitudes of teachers who smoke and those who do not smoke is important in terms of their status for being a role model for their students and for intervention and prevention of smoking in a society. This study investigated the behavior and attitudes about smoking among teachers in a province (Şanlıurfa) in Turkey.

Subjects and methods

The data were collected from 546 teachers from public schools. The participants consisted of 291 female (53.3%) and 255 male (46.7%) teachers. These data were collected by convenience sampling. We used the attitude scale towards smoking.

Results

This study indicates that half of the participants were smokers and there were more male smokers than female smokers. Smoker teachers had more positive inclination towards smoking than the non-smokers. Male teachers displayed more favorable attitudes towards smoking than female teachers.

Conclusion

The attitude of teachers towards smoking varied according to their cigarette smoking status. Their behavior and attitudes about smoking corresponded well with cognitive dissonance theory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Serap Ozbas

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Rustu Onur

  3. Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü, Şanlıurfa, Turkey

    Mehmet Ali Alkan

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  1. Serap Ozbas
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  2. Rustu Onur
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  3. Mehmet Ali Alkan
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Correspondence to Serap Ozbas.

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Ozbas, S., Onur, R. & Alkan, M.A. Behavior and attitudes towards smoking among teachers in Turkey. J Public Health (Berl.) 27, 281–289 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0961-1

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