Secular trends in adolescent never smoking from 1990 to 1999 in California: an age-period-cohort analysis.
OBJECTIVE
We analyzed age, time period, and cohort effects on trends in adolescent cigarette smoking in California from 1990 to 1999.


METHODS
Data from subjects aged 12 to 17 years (n = 26 536; 50.4% male) from the California Tobacco Survey and the California Youth Tobacco Survey were analyzed, and never smokers were used as the outcome measure.


RESULTS
The proportion of never smokers increased from 60% for males and 66% for females in 1990 to around 70% for both sexes in 1999. Respondents were more likely to be never smokers if born in 1978 or later (i.e., aged 12 years or younger in 1990, when most tobacco control programs started in California).


CONCLUSIONS
The statewide antitobacco programs prevented adolescents from starting to smoke, primarily through a cohort effect.
Chen
Xinguang
X
University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA. jimchen@med.wayne.edu
Li
Guohua
G
Unger
Jennifer B
JB
Liu
Xiaowei
X
Johnson
C Anderson
CA
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D017677:Age Distribution; D017668:Age of Onset; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011049:Social Control Policies / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*