|
|
|
|
|
S. Lee Ridner, PhD, ARNP, School of Nursing, University of Louisville, 555 South Floyd Street, Louisville, KY 40292, 502-852-8518, lee.ridner@louisville.edu
Objective: To determine the environmental, personal, and behavioral factors that predict smoking group membership in college-age students. Design: A non-experimental cross-sectional design was used to examine factors that distinguished and predicted membership among four cigarette smoking groups: never established, former, non-daily, and daily. The sample consisted of 788 randomly selected college students, 18 to 24 years of age, who completed and returned a pencil and paper questionnaire. Results: Daily smokers were the most likely group to report their mothers smoked, former smokers were least likely to report their fathers smoking, and the never established group reported the lowest exposure to smoking siblings. Parents’ attitudes toward smoking did not differ significantly among the four groups. The non-daily and daily smoking groups reported greater alcohol and other drug use compared to the two non-smoking groups. Older students were more likely to report daily or former smoking, and the non-daily and daily smoking groups were more likely to report an increased level of depressive symptoms. The number of high school friends who smoked, number of college friends who smoked, and alcohol and other drug use predicted smoking group membership using a polytomous logistic regression. Conclusions: Strategies to alter the social environment and decrease the exposure of non-smoking students to others who model smoking behaviors may help decrease smoking initiation and prevent relapse on college campuses.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: College Students, Tobacco
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.