Authors
DiFranza, Joseph R.Rigotti, Nancy A.
McNeill, Ann D.
Ockene, Judith K.
Savageau, Judith A.
St. Cyr, Dorothy M.
Coleman, Mardia A.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Center for Health Policy and ResearchDepartment of Family Medicine and Community Health
Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2000-09-01Keywords
AdolescentAdolescent Behavior
Child
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Plants, Toxic
Smoking
Smoking Cessation
Tobacco
Tobacco Use Disorder
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Women's Studies
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
OBJECTIVES: It has been assumed that nicotine dependence has a slow onset and occurs only after prolonged daily use of tobacco. A cohort of young adolescents was followed to determine when the first symptoms of nicotine dependence occur with respect to the duration and frequency of tobacco use. DESIGN: A cohort of 681 seventh grade students (age 12-13 years) from seven schools in two small cities in central Massachusetts was followed over one year. Detailed information regarding tobacco use was obtained in individual confidential interviews conducted in school three times over the year. The latency time to the onset of symptoms of nicotine dependence was measured from the time a subject first smoked at a frequency of at least once per month. RESULTS: 22% of the 95 subjects who had initiated occasional smoking reported a symptom of nicotine dependence within four weeks of initiating monthly smoking. One or more symptoms were reported by 60 (63%) of these 95 subjects. Of the 60 symptomatic subjects, 62% had reported experiencing their first symptom before smoking daily or began smoking daily only upon experiencing their first symptom. DISCUSSION: The first symptoms of nicotine dependence can appear within days to weeks of the onset of occasional use, often before the onset of daily smoking. The existence of three groups of individuals-rapid onset, slower onset, and resistant-distinguishable from one another by their susceptibility to nicotine dependence, is postulated.Source
Tob Control. 2000 Sep;9(3):313-9.
DOI
10.1136/tc.9.3.313Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/50861PubMed ID
10982576Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1136/tc.9.3.313