Pathways through adolescent smoking: A 7-year longitudinal grouping analysis.

Abstract

This study examined longitudinal patterns of smoking among students (N = 852) followed from 6th through 12th grades using longitudinal grouping analysis. Six patterns (clusters) were identified: nonsmokers, quitters, experimenters, early escalators, late escalators, and continuous smokers. Baseline (6th-grade) differences in associated risk factors were examined. Growth curve modeling revealed meaningful intercluster differences in risk factor trends over the study period. In general, nonsmokers had the fewest baseline risk factors and slowest increase in risk factors, whereas continuous smokers had higher baseline and more rapidly increasing trends in risk factors. Results suggest that some clusters may respond to population-based antismoking interventions, whereas others (early escalators and continuous smokers) will probably require more focused interventions.

The recovery patterns of back pain among workers with compensated occupational back injuries

“…Previous studies have applied cluster analysis to look for patterns in anxiety severity, 31 psychiatric treatment, 32 and smoking habits. 33 Because cluster analysis does not account for the temporal sequence of values, some have suggested it may not be appropriate for summarising the different patterns of changes over time. 30 However, by using a two-step longitudinal cluster analysis we have overcome some of these limitations.…”

Adolescent Smoking Trajectories: Results from a Population-Based Cohort Study

“…Several studies have also sought to examine psychosocial correlates of trajectory membership [7,8,10,12,13,15,16]. These studies, however, have not considered the range of smoking-related factors that have been shown to play a key role in the development of smoking.…”

“…Third, sample sizes of numerous studies are relatively small, potentially limiting the ability to characterize less common trajectories [10,12]. Finally, intervals between surveys have varied from annual assessments to lengthier intervals [13][14][15], which limit the detail with which the progression of smoking during adolescence can be described. The present study addresses these limitations by examining smoking trajectories from age 12 to 19 among 3637 youth enrolled in a population-based cohort study who were interviewed every 6 months about their smoking behavior.…”

“…There are several methodological limitations, however, of current studies in this area. First, studies often include school-based samples, which do not include school dropouts or youth in alternative education programs [7,[11][12][13]. Second, studies often include a portion of adolescence (e.g., high school years), rather than the entire spectrum [7,11,14].…”

Pathways and prevention in tobacco use

“…Of these approaches to identifying longitudinal trajectories, the longitudinal clustering approach has been adopted to adolescent smoking by Soldz & Cui [7] and the semiparametric group-based approach by Chassin et al . [8].…”