title: Social influences on cigarette initiation among college students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship of demographic and social influence with initiation of cigarette use among undergraduates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students were mailed anonymous surveys including 437 participants who indicated that they had not smoked cigarettes before age 18. Of those, 107 became late initiators (24%), and 330 remained never smokers (76%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Those who drank alcohol in college and had at least 1 parent with a college education were more likely to initiate smoking than were those who did not drink and neither parent had attended college.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Strategies that focus on reducing alcohol and tobacco use need to be tested.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and University Health Service, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. rrstat00@uky.edu
authors.forename: Ruth R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Staten
authors.forename: Melody
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noland
authors.forename: Mary Kay
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Rayens
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dignan
authors.forename: S Lee
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ridner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012925:Social Conformity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities