Do researcher-derived classifications of youths' smoking behavior correspond with youths' characterizations of their behavior?
OBJECTIVE
To describe the categories employed by researchers to describe adolescents' smoking behavior and to determine how these various categorizations compare with youths' self-defined smoking status.


METHODS
A search of the PubMed and Science Direct databases, limited to articles in the English language, published between January 2002 and November 2007.


METHODS
Employing a mixed methods approach, several categories of youths' smoking status were obtained from a literature review and subsequently reproduced by using responses to detailed questionnaire items. Associations between the researcher-derived smoking categories (from the literature review) and the youths' self-reported smoking status, from survey data, were determined.


RESULTS
The categories of smoking status, from the literature review, varied in definition and in the number of categories. The associations between the literature-based categories and the youths' self-reported smoking status were modest.


CONCLUSIONS
Researcher-derived categories of youths' smoking status may not adequately encapsulate youths' perceptions of their own smoking behavior. There is a need to better describe adolescents' smoking behavior with special consideration of the ways in which adolescents characterize their own smoking behavior.
Okoli
Chizimuzo T C
CT
British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6H 3N1. cokoli@cw.bc.ca
Ratner
Pamela A
PA
Haines
Rebecca J
RJ
Sullivan
Kelli M
KM
Guo
Su-Er
SE
Johnson
Joy L
JL
D000293:Adolescent; D006801:Humans; D010465:Perception; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*; D012649:Self Concept; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D009626:Terminology as Topic