Smoking and high-risk sexual behavior among young adults in Hong Kong

Young adults (n = 964; never married; age, 18-27 years) in Hong Kong were s urveyed to obtain information about their smoking habits and sexual behavio rs. Current smokers (15% of the entire sample) and those who had ever had s exual intercourse (28%) were more likely to be male, to have ended their ed ucation at secondary school, and to report less life satisfaction. After co ntrolling for demographic and psychosocial correlates, sexual intercourse w as associated with smoking status for both males and females. Among those w ho were sexually active, those who had multiple sexual partners, had their first sexual experience prior to age 18 years, and (for males) reported vis iting massage parlors were more likely to have a history of smoking. Our fi ndings extend those of our previous study with community adolescents in Hon g Kong and suggest that smoking may be a marker for other high-risk behavio rs among young Chinese adults.