Title
Smoking frequency among current college student smokers: distinguishing characteristics and factors related to readiness to quit smoking
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine
Publication Date
2012-2
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Adolescent; Adult; Alcohol Drinking; Alcoholism; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Minnesota; Smoking; Smoking Cessation; Socioeconomic Factors; Students; Universities; Young Adult
Disciplines
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities | Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health Services Research | Preventive Medicine
Abstract
Given the increased prevalence of non-daily smoking and changes in smoking patterns, particularly among young adults, we examined correlates of smoking level, specifically motives for smoking, and readiness to quit smoking among 2682 college undergraduates who completed an online survey. Overall, 64.7% (n = 1736) were non-smokers, 11.6% (n = 312) smoked 1-5 days, 10.5% (n = 281) smoked 6-29 days and 13.2% (n = 353) were daily smokers. Ordinal regression analyses modeling smoking level indicated that correlates of higher smoking level included having more friends who smoke (beta = 0.63, 95% CI 0.57-0.69) and more frequent other tobacco use (beta = 0.04, 95% CI 0.02-0.05), drinking (beta = 0.04, 95% CI 0.02-0.07) and binge drinking (beta = 0.09, 95% CI 0.06-0.13). Bivariate analyses indicated that daily smokers (versus the subgroups of non-daily smokers) were less likely to smoke for social reasons but more likely to smoke for self-confidence, boredom, and affect regulation. Controlling for sociodemographics, correlates of readiness to quit among current smokers included fewer friends who smoke (P = 0.002), less frequent binge drinking (P = 0.03), being a social smoker (P < 0.001), smoking less for self-confidence (P = 0.04), smoking more for boredom (P = 0.03) and less frequent smoking (P = 0.001). Specific motives for smoking and potential barriers to cessation particularly may be relevant to different groups of college student smokers.
DOI of Published Version
10.1093/her/cyr106
Source
Berg CJ, Ling PM, Hayes RB, Berg E, Nollen N, Nehl E, Choi WS, Ahluwalia JS. Smoking frequency among current college student smokers: distinguishing characteristics and factors related to readiness to quit smoking. Health Educ Res. 2012 Feb;27(1):141-50. doi: 10.1093/her/cyr106. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Health education research
Related Resources
PubMed ID
22156071
Repository Citation
Berg, Carla J.; Ling, Pamela M.; Hayes, Rashelle B.; Berg, Erin; Nollen, Nikki; Nehl, Eric; Choi, Won S.; and Ahluwalia, Jasjit S., "Smoking frequency among current college student smokers: distinguishing characteristics and factors related to readiness to quit smoking" (2012). Preventive and Behavioral Medicine Publications. 273.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/prevbeh_pp/273
