Background: A new law (15/2016) that bans smoking in all enclosed public spaces was implemented in Romania in March 2016. The examination of the effects of the law is part of a five-years international research program on teenagers’ smoking habits.
Main objective: The purpose of this study was to assess teenagers’ perceptions on the law, their information regarded the new restrictions, how it affected their smoking behaviour, as well as how families and schools reacted to the implementation of the law.
Methods: Our cross-sectional study used a self-administered questionnaire completed by 7th grade students from three Transylvanian counties. The random stratified sample involved 695 students from 21 localities. The stratification variables were the size of the localities and the language of the education. The questionnaires were completed anonimously, with the consent of the parents in June 2016.
Results: Most of the respondents had heard about the new law, and agreed with the bans on smoking in closed places. Positive parental attitudes towards the law were associated with greater receptivity of the law among adolescents. Smoking students were more likely than non-smoking students to have a negative attitude towards the new law and were more likely to perceive that the law increased secretive smoking among adolescents.
Conclusion: We have found three factors (parental model, own smoking habits, peers’ smoking habits) based on the perceptions of the teenagers’ which have effect on the attitude toward the new law. Multigenerational community prevention is an important element in adolescent smoking prevention, under which we need to strengthen the antismoking communication, and to show positive models in smoking-free behavior.
Keywords: smoking, prevention, anti-smoking law, parental models, community prevention
