UNIVERSITY LIFE, SMOKING, AND STRESS: BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS AMONG STUDENTS IN BALI

Smoking prevalence amongst people with a mental health condition which includes stress is substantially higher than in the general population. There is a strong relationship between smoking and reduction of stress level, witnessed since a very long time back yet caught less attention compared to in general population. This study was aimed to describe smoking behaviour and stress level among students of Universitas Udayana. Methods: This research was a descriptive study of smoking behaviour and stress level among medical faculty students of Udayana University from December 2015 to December 2016. The sampling was simple random and consecutive sampling. The stress levels were measured by Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. Results: There were 100 students were taken in this study, of which 50 were males and another 50 were females. The majority of the males (84%) had a low moderate risk of stress illness. Females were found ten to had a higher risk to get stress illness than males. There were 56% of smoker respondents, with the ratio male/female were 35 to 21. There were 18 males and 10 female smokers who had a stress level score of 150-299, which means they were at a moderate risk to get a stress-related illness. Conclusion: Smokers with a higher level of stress score on the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale tend to have a higher nicotine dependency.