Objective A recent line of studies suggests that repeated exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is capable of producing psycho-behavioural effects in non-smokers.
Method We examined the association between environmental smoking and occurrence of psycho-behavioural symptoms, designed to assess nicotine addiction, in a sample of 778 never-smoking children (aged 9–12 years). In addition, we compared the occurrence of these symptoms between never-smoking children and children who had initiated smoking. Cross-sectional survey data were collected in 15 Dutch primary schools.
Results A total of 6 % of never-smoking children reported symptoms of craving, 8 % reported cue-triggered wanting to smoke, and 20 % reported subjective symptoms (e.g. difficulty concentrating, irritations) in response to ETS exposure. In never-smoking children, a higher number of smokers in the child’s social environment was associated with more symptoms of cue-triggered wanting to smoke and more subjective symptoms.
Discussion Environmental smoking is associated with self-reported psycho-behavioural symptoms in never-smoking children. Future research should investigate whether these symptoms in children are physiologically-based or whether they reflect other characteristics which predispose youth for smoking initiation in the future.