Variables Associated With Use and Susceptibility to Use of Cigarettes Among North Carolina Adolescents: Results From the 2007 Statewide Survey of High School Students

Abstract

According to a 2005 nationwide survey, 28% of students had tried smoking before entering high school; by the last year of high school, 53% had tried smoking [2]. Smoking rates among students in grade 8 peaked in 1996, at approximately 22%, and smoking rates among students in grade 12 peaked the following year, at approximately 37% [2]. Nationally, while smoking rates among high school students began to decline in the mid-1990s, the rate of decline began to slow around 1999 [3]. The current rate for cigarette smoking among US high school students is estimated to be 19.7% [3]. North Carolina, however, has seen a different trend. From 2003 through 2007, high school students in the state had higher rates of decline in cigarette use, compared with rates for 1999-2003 [4]. In 2007, the rate of cigarette smoking among North Carolina high school students was 19.0% [5].This study examines variables associated with cigarette use and susceptibility to cigarette use among North Carolina students, using 2007 data from a statewide tobacco survey.This research comes at an important time, as public health efforts in the state aim to sustain reductions in cigarette consumption among youths. By identifying the variables associated with smoking and susceptibility to smoking among adolescents, state public health workers have more information about the current smoking status among North Carolina high school students. This information can be used to test for trends in the future, with the ultimate goal of designing more-effective programs to prevent tobacco use. As patterns of tobacco use change over time (eg, the smoking prevalence among females is increasing), it is useful to know how public health practices must change in order to continue to sustain reductions in tobacco consumption.

Patterns of alternative tobacco use among adolescent cigarette smokers

“…Chippers and daily smokers were more likely to believe smoking is cool compared to non-daily light smokers. Several studies among U.S. adolescents (Carpenter et al, 2009;Kandra et al, 2011) have shown a positive relationship between the perception that cigarette smoking is cool and current cigarette smoking status or smoking susceptibility. Perceptions of waterpipe smoking "coolness" have also been shown to be a predictor of current waterpipe use (Jordan and Delnevo, 2010).…”