Psychological Problems and Cigarette Smoking in Tehran University Students in 2010

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at comparing psychological problems between smoker and non-smoker students and also males and females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 22 faculty members of public and private universities in Tehran were selected through random sampling and 913 students from the same universities were selected through convenient sampling and enrolled in this study with a 2-step sampling method. Hopkins Symptom Checklist was used for data collection. RESULTS: Significant differences were detected between smoker and non-smoker students in Hopkins score, depression, anxiety and somatization. In addition, smoker women gained higher Hopkins scores, somatization, anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity scores compared to smoker males. CONCLUSION: Incidence of signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders was higher among smoker individuals. Therefore, smoking control strategies should further focus on this subject.