Development and Reliability of the Lifetime Interview on Smoking Trajectories

Abstract

Conclusions:Although retrospective reports have unavoidable limitations, our findings indicate that the LIST is a reliable instrument for assessing detailed retrospective smoking history data and can be used to add to the knowledge base of how patterns of use relate to a variety of outcomes of interest. IntroductionRetrospective assessment of lifetime history of health risk behaviors and related disorders is widely used, especially in transdisciplinary research of how intra-individual and contextual factors interact over time (Abrams, Leslie, Mermelstein, Kobus, & Clayton, 2003). In the specific case of tobacco use, retrospective life history data are important for studies of the natural history of tobacco use and nicotine dependence (Brigham et al., 2010), the temporal patterning of tobacco use with co-occurring risk behaviors and morbidities over time (Bernstein, Zvolensky, Schmidt, & Sachs-Ericcson, 2007;Kahler et al., 2008), and research on the prevalence, contexts, and correlates of tobacco and other substance use disorders (cf., Degenhardt et al., 2008). Specific aspects of tobacco use history, such as age of onset and subjective reactions to early smoking experiences, have been studied as predictors of smoking severity and in identifying high-risk phenotypes (Johnson & Schultz, 2005). In contrast, indices reflecting total lifetime exposure to smoking (e.g., "pack-years"; usually defined as the total number of years one smoked multiplied by cigarette packs smoked per day) are Abstract Introduction: Assessments of lifetime smoking history are useful in many types of research including surveillance, epidemiology, prevention, intervention, and studies of genetic phenotypes and heritability. Because prospective assessment is impractical for most research, our objective was to develop a reliable retrospective measure of lifetime smoking history. This paper presents descriptive and test-retest reliability data on smoking history variables assessed using the Lifetime Interview on Smoking Trajectories (LIST).Methods: Data were collected on a birth cohort sample of 1,625 men and women (ages 34-44) from the Collaborative Perinatal Project. A subsample of 344 was invited to participate in a retest interview 4-8 weeks later and 220 participated. Indices of test-retest reliability were evaluated for smoking history variables, including: (a) early smoking experiences; (b) age at various smoking milestones, such as first puff, and progression to weekly and daily smoking; (c) smoking rate and time to first cigarette within initial, current, most recent, and heaviest phases; and (d) prolonged nonsmoking phases. Results:Responses to whether each of 5 major smoking milestones occurred were all highly reliable (k = .78-.92), and of the 20 phase-specific variables assessed, more than half were reported at the highest level of reliability. None of the variables demonstrated low reliability.

Understanding Tobacco Use Onset Among African Americans

“…Likewise, mortality analyses examined interactions with SES, which prevented race and SES from being confounded. Findings were limited by the self-report nature of MIDUS (although prior work suggests retrospective reports of age-of-onset are highly reliable 39 ). MIDUS also assessed regular smoking in terms of smoking at least a few cigarettes every day, which excluded light and intermittent smokers.…”

Preventing Smoking Progression in Young Adults: the Concept of Prevescalation

“…Progression may be defined, for example, by changes in use patterns (i.e.., frequency and amount used, variability in use) assessed at multiple time points. It may also be characterized by changes in use states (e.g., never use, ever use, current use, former use) as measured via the Lifetime Inventory of Smoking Trajectories tool (Colby et al 2012) or via frequency and quantity of various types of products used (e.g., combustible products, non-combustible products, multiple products, nicotine-containing products). These measures may require assessment of complex poly-use patterns, multiple tobacco/ nicotine use states with variation in sojourn times, and how to understand transitions in product use that stabilize after a few years (Cobb et al 2015).…”

Parental Smoking Exposure and Adolescent Smoking Trajectories

“…28 Nicotine dependence was assessed based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria by using the adapted Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). 29,30 The CIDI was selected over brief dependence screeners (eg, Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire) to gather detailed information on clinical dependence symptoms for the NEFS.…”

“…Parental smoking and nicotine dependence also were assessed at baseline by using the Lifetime Inventory of Smoking Trajectories (LIST) 28 and CIDI. 29,30 One parent completed a baseline interview for the study.…”

“…28 We created continuous predictor variables for adolescents' total years of exposure to parental smoking before baseline based on whether their parents were current dependent smokers, current smokers without dependence, or former smokers at baseline.…”