title: What does it take to be a smoker? Adolescents' characterization of different smoker types.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have demonstrated that clinical- and research-based definitions of who a smoker is and what constitutes smoking often differ from adolescent-derived definitions, which can be problematic for effective intervention and prevention efforts. We investigated how adolescents define different smoker types (nonsmoker, smoker, regular smoker, addicted smoker, heavy smoker, experimental smoker, casual smoker, and social smoker) using multiple indicators of smoking behaviors, including frequency, amount, place, and length of time cigarette smoking, and whether differences exist by smoking experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze data from a cohort of adolescents (N = 372) in northern California.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found differences in how adolescents characterized smoker types based on their own smoking experience. Ever-smokers tended to have a greater flexibility in determining what constituted nonsmoking and heavy smoking, while never-smokers had much narrower definitions. Results also indicated that adolescents may mistakenly associate nicotine addiction with a high frequency and amount of cigarette use as 74.3% characterized an addicted smoker as having smoked for a few years or more. In addition, there was a considerable amount of overlap in definitions between different smoker types, particularly among the smoker-regular smoker, addicted smoker-heavy smoker, and casual smoker-social smoker pairs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health communication strategies for youth smoking prevention need to address the wide variability and overlap in how adolescents define different smoker types. Greater attention should be directed to understanding the nuances of how adolescents define smoking in order to maximize the effectiveness of youth-centered smoking prevention and cessation messages.
authors.affiliation: Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, 530 Parnassus Avenue, Suite 366, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. joann.lee@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Joann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Bonnie L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Halpern-Felsher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000145:classification* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology