Social influences on cigarette initiation among college students.
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.
Staten
Ruth R
RR
College of Nursing and University Health Service, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. rrstat00@uky.edu
Noland
Melody
M
Rayens
Mary Kay
MK
Hahn
Ellen
E
Dignan
Mark
M
Ridner
S Lee
SL
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