title: Early smoking onset may promise initial pleasurable sensations and later addiction.
abstract: There is converging evidence suggesting a particular susceptibility to the addictive properties of nicotine among adolescents. The aim of the current study was to prospectively ascertain the relationship between age at first cigarette and initial smoking experiences, and to examine the combined effects of these characteristics of adolescent smoking behavior on adult smoking. It was hypothesized that the association between earlier age at first cigarette and later development of nicotine dependence may, at least in part, be attributable to differences in experiencing pleasurable early smoking sensations. Data were drawn from the participants of the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk, an ongoing epidemiological cohort study from birth to adulthood. Structured interviews at age 15, 19 and 22 years were conducted to assess the age at first cigarette, early smoking experiences and current smoking behavior in 213 young adults. In addition, the participants completed the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence. Adolescents who smoked their first cigarette at an earlier age reported more pleasurable sensations from the cigarette, and they were more likely to be regular smokers at age 22. The age at first cigarette also predicted the number of cigarettes smoked and dependence at age 22. Thus, both the age of first cigarette and the pleasure experienced from the cigarette independently predicted aspects of smoking at age 22.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany Department of Biostatistics, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, University of Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Arlette F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Buchmann
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blomeyer
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jennen-Steinmetz
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esser
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banaschewski
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laucht
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology; D057181:Pleasure; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine