Nondaily smoking: a population-based, longitudinal study of stability and predictors

Abstract

BackgroundNondaily smoking appears to have remained stable in Western countries in recent years, alongside a steep decline in daily smoking. Nondaily smoking increases the risk of several diseases and premature mortality, but our knowledge about nondaily smoking is limited. The present study was designed to examine the stability of nondaily smoking during young adulthood, and to identify adolescent factors predictive of nondaily smoking compared with nonsmoking and non-nicotine-dependent and nicotine-dependent daily smoking.MethodsA population-based sample (n = 942) of Norwegians was followed up by surveys for 13 years, from adolescence to young adulthood. Information about smoking patterns, nicotine dependence, school achievement, parents’ and peers’ smoking, and parental monitoring was collected. Data on parental and participants’ education were obtained from a national register.ResultsOf all nondaily smokers at age 21 years, 26% were still nondaily smokers at 27 years, while 17% had become daily smokers and 57% had quit. Bivariate analyses revealed that young adult nondaily smokers did not differ from nonsmokers on any of the included variables, while a number of differences in parental, peers’ and individual characteristics were observed between nondaily smokers and the two categories of smokers in young adulthood. Longitudinal analyses revealed that unorganized leisure time activities and peers’ smoking differentiated nondaily smoking from nonsmoking. Higher educational achievement and less parental binge drinking predicted nondaily smoking and differentiated it from both categories of daily smoking.ConclusionsThe degree of nondaily smoking-stability from 21 to 27 years of age was modest, and most nondaily smokers quit smoking in the course of young adulthood. Young adult nondaily smokers were quite similar to nonsmokers, but differed substantially from both nicotine-dependent and nondependent daily smokers. The study suggests that nondaily smoking—at least in the absence of traditional risk factors for smoking—is usually a transitory behavior, with most people returning to nonsmoking.

Phantom smoking among young adult bar patrons

“…In aggregate, smoking rates have decreased substantially among adults in the USA 1. Despite the steady decrease in smoking rates in recent years, young adults remain the only age group for which smoking rates are increasing 2.…”

Nondaily, Low-Rate Daily, and High-Rate Daily Smoking in Young Adults: A 17-Year Follow-Up

“…5 Most existing longitudinal studies are short-term, with follow-up ranging from 6 months to 7 years. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] We identified only one long-term study, which was conducted over a period of 15 years. 16 Furthermore, we are unaware of any New Zealand (NZ) studies of low-frequency smoking or nondaily smoking.…”

Debatten rundt cannabis

“…I den senere tid har imidlertid flere studier vist at mange av-og-til-røykere opprettholder et lavfrekvent røykemønster over tid uten å gå over til å røyke daglig. Dette framkommer blant annet i en norsk studie som fant at om lag en fjerdedel av dem som røykte av og til ved 21 års alder også røykte av og til seks år seinere (Kvaavik et al, 2014a). Funn fra norsk forskning viser også gjennomgående at av-og-tilrøykerne er ulike dagligrøykerne både når det gjelder demografiske og psykososiale kjennetegn og røykemønster; de er yngre, i større grad kvinner, mer urbane, de har høyere utdanning og inntekt, de har foreldre med høyere utdanning og har selv bedre skoleprestasjoner i ungdomsårene enn dagligrøykerne.…”

“…Videre har de i mindre grad uorganisert fritid, større grad av foreldrekontroll og faerre har venner som røyker en det dagligrøykerne har. Også når det gjelder annen tobakksrelatert atferd er der forskjeller mellom av-og-til-og dagligrøykerne ved at av-og-til-røykerne er mindre nikotinavhengige, oftere bruker snus og oftere begrenser røykingen til bestemte sosiale situasjoner (Kvaavik et al, 2014a(Kvaavik et al, , 2014b. Disse resultatene støttes av funn fra internasjonal forskning (Schane et al, 2009;Shiffmann et al, 2009Shiffmann et al, , 2012.…”

“…I norske data fant man at over 40 % av av-og-til-røykerne ikke anså seg selv som røykere, og at kun en tredjedel av av-og-til-røykerne var interessert i å slutte å røyke, mot halvparten av dagligrøykerne. En studie fant at det var nesten like mange av-ogtil-som daglig-røykere som vurderte å slutte i løpet av det neste halvåret, nesten halvparten (Kvaavik et al, 2014b), mens en annen studie fant at godt og vel halvparten av av-og-tilrøykere ved 21 års alder hadde sluttet å røyke seks år seinere (Kvaavik et al, 2014a). De aller fleste av-og-til-røykere rapporterer at de anser seg selv som røykfrie om fem år, mot om lag halvparten av dagligrøykerne (Kvaavik et al, 2014b).…”