title: Some context for understanding the place of the general educational development degree in the relationship between educational attainment and smoking prevalence.
abstract: Individuals with a General Educational Development (GED) degree have the highest smoking prevalence of any education level, including high school dropouts without a GED. Yet little research has been reported providing a context for understanding the exception that the GED represents in the otherwise graded inverse relationship between educational attainment and smoking prevalence. We investigated whether the GED may be associated with a general riskier profile that includes but is not limited to increased smoking prevalence.
  
  
  
  Data were obtained from three years (2011-2013) of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health ([NSDUH], N=55,940]). Prevalence of risky repertoire indicators (e.g., ever arrested, seldom/never wears a seatbelt), indicators of social instability (e.g., frequent relocations), and risky demographic characteristics (e.g., male gender) were compared among high school dropouts, GED holders, and high school graduates using Rao-Scott chi square goodness-of-fit tests and multiple logistic regression.
  
  
  
  Those with GEDs differed significantly between both high school dropouts and high school graduates across 19 of 27 (70.4%) risk indicators. Controlling for risky profile characteristics accounted for a significant but limited (25-30%) proportion of the variance in smoking prevalence across these three education levels.
  
  
  
  GED holders exhibit a broad high-risk profile of which smoking is just one component. Future research evaluating additional risk indicators and mechanisms that may underpin this generalized risky repertoire are likely needed for a more complete understanding of GED's place in the important relationship between educational attainment and smoking prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States. Electronic address: akurti@uvm.edu.
authors.forename: Allison N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Kurti
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States.
authors.forename: Elias M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Klemperer
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States.
authors.forename: Ivori
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zvorsky
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Behavior Analysis and Therapy Program, Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Redner
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Biostatistics, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States.
authors.forename: Jeff S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Priest
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States; Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013332:Student Dropouts; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cigarette smoking; Education; General Educational Development (GED); National Survey on Drug Use and Health; Nationally representative samples; Risky behavior; Young adults