title: Sensation-seeking predicts initiation of daily smoking behavior among American Indian high school students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  American Indian (AI) youth have a high risk of smoking initiation. Sensation-seeking, defined as the tendency to seek novel and thrilling experiences, has been associated with smoking initiation in other groups but has never been examined in AI youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were from the Voices of Indian Teens Project (VOICES), a longitudinal study of AI youth from seven high schools in four AI communities in the western United States. Participants completed annual surveys in school over a three-year period. Our sample comprised 764 students who were non-smokers at baseline. Smoking initiation was defined as endorsement of daily smoking after baseline. We used binary logistic regression to evaluate the association of baseline sensation-seeking with odds of daily smoking initiation, stratified by gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants were 353 males and 411 females aged 13 to 21years at baseline. After adjusting for covariates, baseline sensation-seeking correlated with smoking initiation differently in males and females. Sensation-seeking did not predict daily smoking in males. Among females, however, higher sensation-seeking scores at baseline predicted daily smoking in both the unadjusted (odds ratio=1.4; 95% CI=1.1-1.8; p=0.005) and covariate-adjusted (odds ratio=1.3; 95% CI=1.0-1.6; p=0.04) models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gender-specific prevention programs may be warranted in addressing different risk-factor profiles in this high-risk population.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Nichea_Spillane@brown.edu
authors.forename: Nichea S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Spillane
authors.forename: Clemma J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Noonan
authors.forename: R Turner
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Goins
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Spero
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012677:Sensation; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult