Time perspective,optimistic bias,and self-control among different statuses of university smokers in China: a cross-sectional study

Risk behavior often seems ‘self-defeating’ to the observers. Most people understand the basic health-related knowledge, but some of them still choose to continue risk behaviors, especially for the young. This study aimed to examine time perspective, optimism bias and self control correlated with smoking behavior in Chinese college students. A cross-sectional survey enrolling 3016 university students in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China. Influence Factors were identified using multiple logistic regression analyses. Prevalence of current smoking was 20.92% (631 smokers), including 272 daily smokers (9.02%) and 359 non-daily smokers (11.90%). Future-oriented time perspective, general capacity for self-discipline, reliability and ethnicity were protective factors of smoking behavior. Possibility of self-suffering diseases and gender were risk factors of smoking behavior. Smoking in University of Chengdu, China is a severe problem. Results in this research have suggested that irrespective of the smoking level, improving health-related knowledge, time management awareness and self-control ability may contribute to reducing the prevalence of smoking behavior.     

A population study of low-rate smokers: quitting history and instability over time.

This study used 1 longitudinal and 2 cross-seconal population surveys to compare stability of low-rate daily smokers (less than 5 cigarettes per day) with other daily smokers and occasional smokers. Few low-rate smokers maintained consumption level; 36% retained smoking status after 20 months, compared with 82% and 44% for regular daily and occasional smokers, respectively. In a dynamic process, established smokers quit smoking and/or modified (decreased or increased) consumption. Low-rate and occasional smokers quit at higher rates than regular daily smokers (odds ratios 3:1) but were replenished by new members, many converted from regular daily smoker. The overall trend is an increasing proportion of low-consumption smokers while smoking prevalence declines. The dynamic process has implications for tobacco control efforts and for addiction theory.     

Predicting Relationship of Smoking Behavior Among Male Saudi Arabian College Students Related to Their Religious Practice

This study describes the relationships of smoking behavior among a sample of male college students in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to their religious practice, parents’ smoking behaviors and attitudes, peers’ smoking behaviors and attitudes, and knowledge about the dangers of smoking. A 49-item questionnaire was developed and pilot tested in KSA. This questionnaire was completed during the academic year 2013 by 715 undergraduate male students at the King Saud University in Riyadh. 29.8 % of the students were smokers (13.8 % cigarette smokers, 7.3 % sheesha smokers, and 27 % cigarette and sheesha smokers). Students in the College of Education were much more likely to be smokers than the students in the College of Science. The differences between the College of Education and the College of Science was statistically significant (χ² = 16.864. df = 1, p = .001). Logistic regression analysis suggested that students who were more faithful in their practice of Islam were 15 % less likely to smoke. Students who were more knowledgeable about the dangers of smoking were 8 % less likely to smoke. The logistic analysis identified peers (friends) as the most powerful factor in predicting smoking. The four-factor model had an overall classification accuracy of 78 %. The need to understand more fully the dynamics of peer relations among Saudi Arabian males as a basis for developing tobacco education/prevention programs. Prevention programs will need to include education and changes in the college level or earlier in KSA.     

Use of carbon monoxide breath validation in assessing exposure to cigarette smoke in a worksite population

Assessed the usefulness of carbon monoxide (CO) breath validation of self-reported smoking status in a large worksite population (N = 4,647). CO assessment was performed as part of a baseline survey procedure. CO levels differed substantially in relation to self-reported smoking status and amount smoked. Correcting for ambient exposure (estimated by mean CO levels among never smokers) produced more satisfactory results than uncorrected CO levels. Striking company differences were observed in mean CO exposures among self-reported never smokers. An unexpected finding was that 17.1% of current smokers reported smoking less than daily. Although the CO measure was excellent in detecting moderate and heavy smokers, it was inadequate in detecting occasional and light smokers. If detection of occasional or lighter smoking is critical to the purposes of the study, the more expensive (but more accurate) cotinine measure is preferred.     

Associations between depression, distress tolerance, delay discounting, and alcohol-related problems in European American and African American college students

Although levels of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems are high in college students, there is significant variability in the number and type of problems experienced, even among students who drink heavily. African American students drink less and experience fewer alcohol-related problems than European American students, but are still at risk, and little research has investigated the potentially unique patterns and predictors of problems among these students. Depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting have been implicated in adult substance abuse and may be important predictors of alcohol problem severity among college students. We examined the relationship between these variables and alcohol-related problems among African American and European American students (N = 206; 53% female; 68% European American; 28% African American) who reported recent heavy drinking. In regression models that controlled for drinking level, depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting were associated with alcohol problems among African American students, but only depression was associated with alcohol problems among European American students. These results suggest that negative affect is a key risk factor for alcohol problems among college student drinkers. For African American students, the inability to tolerate negative emotions and to organize their behavior around future outcomes may also be especially relevant risk factors.     

Stages of readiness to quit smoking: population prevalence and correlates.

We examined the population prevalence and correlates of stages in smokers' readiness to quit, using data from 1,048 smokers recruited in a self-weighting, multistage, systematic clustered area sample from 0.44% of South Australian dwellings, with an 89% response rate. Smokers in the precontemplation stage comprised 24.1% of the sample, smokers in the contemplation stage comprised 47.2%, and smokers in the preparation stage comprised 28.7%. No sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, sex, marital status, educational level) were found to be significant independent predictors of membership in the different stages. The five significant independent predictors of being in the precontemplation stage (vs. the contemplation stage) were (a) having a higher confidence of quitting, (b) seeing fewer health risks associated with smoking, (c) not having made an attempt to quit, (d) seeing quitting as more difficult, and (e) smoking 25 or more cigarettes a day. The two significant independent predictors of being in the contemplation stage (vs. the preparation stage) were (a) having lower confidence of quitting and (b) not having tried to quit. We discuss implications for the understanding of smoking behavior in populations and also consider how cessation campaigns might address the factors associated with different stages of readiness to quit.     

Smoking among Norwegian schoolchildren 1975–1980: I. Extent of smoking in the age group 12–15 years, 1975

213600 pupils from grades 6–9 (age 12–15) in the primary school in Norway filled in a questionnaire about smoking habits (1975). The headmaster of each individual of the 2824 schools participating in the study filled in reports giving the local frequencies of daily smokers, occasional smokers and nonsmokers for each grade and for boys and girls separately. The school-reports also contained questions about demographical properties of the school. A sample of 6968 questionnaires from the pupils (those who were born on the sixth irrespective of month) were also submitted for statistical analysis. Compared with previous studies, the percentage of smokers among girls proved to have increased considerably. The tendency found in many western industrialized countries, that smoking is increasing among girls more than among boys, or that boys are reducing smoking to a greater extent than are girls, was confirmed also for Norway. In all 19 counties there was a higher percentage of daily smokers among girls than among boys. Higher percentages of occasional smokers or pupils who had tried smoking were found in small schools and scattered settlements. Norway may be divided into geographical areas according to the differences in the smoking habits of girls and boys. In the counties in the south and to the west, girls have not surpassed boys to the same extent as in the rest of the country. From previous political-cultural research it is known that the south and west is characterized by temperance and prohibition movements, higher frequencies of religious attendance, as well as a distintiveness in voting behaviour.     

Demographic variables, smoking variables, and outcome across five studies.

OBJECTIVE: Intervention effectiveness can potentially be affected by membership in different demographic subgroups (race, ethnicity, gender, age, and education level) or smoking behavior variables (time to first cigarette, longest previous quit attempt, number of attempts in the past year, number of cigarettes, and stage of change). Previous research on these 2 sets of variables has produced mixed results. DESIGN: This secondary data analysis combined data from 5 effectiveness trials (a random-digit-dial sample [N=1,358], members of an HMO [N=207], parents of students recruited for a school-based study [N=347], patients from an insurance provider list [N=535], and employees [N=175]) in which smokers were all proactively recruited from a defined population and all received the same expert system intervention. The intervention produced a consistent 22% to 26% point prevalence cessation rate across the 5 studies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were 24-hr point prevalence, 7-day point prevalence, 30-day prolonged abstinence, and 6-month prolonged abstinence. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in outcome across gender, race, and ethnicity subgroups. There were significant differences and small effect sizes for age and education subgroups. There were significant differences and large effect sizes for all 5 smoking behavior variables. DISCUSSION: Demographic variables are static variables, whereas the smoking variables are more dynamic, that is, open to change. Given the dynamic nature of the smoking variables and the large effect sizes, interventions tailored on the smoking variables should be more successful.     

The association between teacher attitudes, behavioral intentions, and smoking and the prevalence of smoking among seventh-grade students.

Seventh-grade students and teachers from twenty-three middle and junior high schools were surveyed to determine the association between teacher attitudes, behavioral intentions, and smoking behavior and the prevalence of student smoking. Teacher attitudes toward smoking policies were found to be strongly related to the current smoking behavior of the teacher but not consistently related to student smoking. In addition, teacher likelihood of intervening showed a modest association with teacher smoking status, with current smokers generally indicating being the least likely to intervene for student possession or use of cigarettes. Teacher intentions to intervene were strongly associated with the prevalence of smoking among boys but not girls.     

Suicidal behavior, negative affect, gender, and self-reported delinquency in college students

The associations among suicidal behavior, negative affect, and delinquency were assessed via an anonymous self-report survey administered to male and female college students ( N = 383). Contrary to our hypothesized results, there were no gender differences in rates of suicidal ideation and attempts. Confirming our hypotheses about gender differences, college men did report significantly more delinquent behavior than college women. College men also scored higher on the suicide-proneness scale, which contained a mixture of death-related, risk-related, and negative self- and health-related items. Furthermore, as predicted, college students with a history of depression, suicide ideation, and/or suicide attempts all reported significantly more delinquent behavior. Self-reported delinquency and current levels of depressive symptomology emerged as significant predictors of suicide-prone behavior for both college men and women, explaining 34% of the variance for women and 17% for men. Levels of engagement in suicide-prone behavior and feelings of depression were elevated in college students with any type of juvenile arrest history. Students with an arrest history were also more likely to have had a diagnosis of depression and to have engaged in suicide ideation in their past. These findings suggest there are complex links between depression, delinquency, and suicidal behavior in college men and women.     

Prevalence,Correlates and Perceptions Towards Cigarette Smoking Among Male and Female in School Adolescents (Aged 11–18 Years) in South Africa: Results from the 2008 GYTS Study

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and identify correlates of current cigarette use among 8,470 school-going adolescents (aged 11 to 18 years) in South Africa. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2008 in South Africa within the framework of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). Overall prevalence of current cigarette smoking was 16.5%. Significantly more males (22.8%) than females (10.5%) were current smokers (p < .001). Cigarette smoking among boys and girls was positively associated with parental and/or peer smoking and greater risk perception, and among girls smoking attitudes variables (having more friends among girls, greater attractiveness of boys and weight change) and various higher exposure to smoking advertising and promotion activities were positively associated with cigarette smoking. However, antismoking advertising and community and family education were positively associated with current smoking, while only having school or community special groups or classes for students who want to stop smoking was protective of smoking. Cigarette smoking and other tobacco use is a significant public health problem in South Africa. Public health efforts aimed at preventing adolescent cigarette/tobacco use should incorporate knowledge on the associated factors related to smoking.     

Emotional intelligence and smoking: Protective and risk factors among Canadian young adults

A sample of 20 and 21 year old participants (n = 2699) of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) was used to investigate the association between emotional intelligence and smoking in young adulthood. Emotional intelligence was measured with a short-form of the original EQ-i (Statistics Canada, 2008), which assessed overall emotional intelligence and five dimensions: interpersonal competencies, intrapersonal competencies, stress management competencies, adaptability competencies and general mood. Using self-reported smoking behaviors, participants were classified as daily, occasional or non-smokers. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the association between emotional intelligence (and its dimensions) with daily and occasional smoking (compared to non-smoking - the reference category). Analyses were conducted on the total sample and were also stratified across gender. Stress management emerged as a protective factor against occasional and daily smoking among both males and females. Unexpectedly, a higher score on interpersonal competencies was associated with occasional smoking (compared to non-smoking) among males, suggesting that this group may consist of several social smokers. Our results suggest that emotional intelligence may comprise gender-specific protective and risk factors for occasional and daily smoking, which in turn should be considered in the development of smoking prevention programs.     

Smoking motives in the prediction of affective vulnerability among young adult daily smokers

The primary aim of this study was to examine whether smoking to reduce negative affect was uniquely related to a range of affective vulnerability factors (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, anxious arousal, and negative affectivity) among daily smokers. Participants were 276 young adult daily smokers (124 females; M(age)=25.12, SD=10.37). Partially consistent with prediction, the motivation to smoke to reduce negative affect was significantly related to anxiety sensitivity and negative affectivity, but not anxious arousal; the observed significant effects were above and beyond other theoretically relevant factors (e.g., smoking rate, years smoked, age, gender). In contrast to prediction, habitual smoking motives demonstrated significant incremental associations with anxiety sensitivity and anxious arousal symptoms. These results suggest that there are important associations between certain smoking motives and negative affective states and that such relations are not attributable to other smoking factors (e.g., smoking rate).     

A measure of perceived pain and tobacco smoking interrelations: pilot validation of the pain and smoking inventory

Mounting evidence indicates that pain can motivate cigarette smoking behavior, smokers have reliably endorsed the use of tobacco to cope with pain, and there is reason to suspect that pain may impede smoking cessation. Smoking-related outcome expectancies are among the best predictors of cigarette consumption and relapse, and the goal of this pilot study was to develop a standardized measure of how tobacco smokers perceive their pain and smoking behavior to be interrelated (i.e. pain as a motivator of smoking, expectancies for smoking as a means of coping with pain, and pain as a barrier to quitting). Participants (N = 75) completed an online survey that was designed to assess interrelations between pain and tobacco smoking. The nine-item Pain and Smoking Inventory (PSI) demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = .95). As expected, PSI scores were higher among smokers with chronic pain (vs. no pain), and were positively associated with established indices of both pain and tobacco smoking dependence. These results corroborate the notion that smokers can effectively communicate perceptions of interrelations between their pain and smoking behavior. Future research is needed to establish reliability and validity of the PSI among larger, more diverse samples of smokers with varying levels of pain. Future work should also examine PSI scores as predictors of smoking cessation outcomes, and whether PSI data may usefully inform the development of tailored interventions for smokers in pain.     

Negative mood regulation mediates the relationship between distraction and engagement in pleasurable activities among college smokers

Smoking for negative mood alleviation is a strong predictor of early smoking and early dependence among undergraduates. Little is known about whether adaptive cognitive coping processes (e.g., distraction) may help decrease the likelihood of student smoking for negative mood regulation. The present study tested the hypothesis that distraction would predict (a) greater engagement in adaptive pleasant pastimes and (b) lower rates of smoking behavior among undergraduates (n = 162, 41.9% female). We further assessed whether negative mood regulation expectations would explain both relationships. Results indicated that negative mood regulation fully mediated the relationship between distraction and engagement in pleasurable activities among college smokers. Although the relationships among distraction, negative mood regulation, and cigarette consumption were not significant, they were in the expected direction (negative). Results from the present study point to the importance of prevention efforts focused on enhancing cognitive coping skills in college smokers. Such a focus may lead to more frequent adaptive cognitive coping during negative mood states, presumably instead of smoking.     

Predictors of Smoking Status After Eight Years: The Interaction of Stages of Change and Addiction Variables

Abstract

With a smoking rate of 30% of the population Switzerland has one of the highest rates of all industrialised countries. Changes in smoking status over eight years are examined by analysing the course of non-smokers, former smokers and current smokers between 1987 and 1995. Stages of change and addiction variables, as well as their interaction, are analysed for 1987 as predictors of smoking status in 1995.A sample of 953 non-smokers and former and current smokers was interviewed in 1987 and followed up in 1995. Between 1987 and 1995 every fifth non-smoker (20.9%) began smoking. The higher one is in the stage hierarchy the higher the probability of forward than of backward movement. Within the stages of change the likelihood of cessation is moderated by addiction variables. Thus, in the case of contemplating smokers in 1987, the more cigarettes they smoked daily at that time the less likely they were to be former smokers by 1995, but for preparating smokers who had already made an attempt to quit the converse holds - the more they smoked in 1987, the more likely they were to be non-smokers eight years later. The same holds for former smokers in 1987: former moderate smokers then were more likely to relapse than former heavy smokers. The implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.     

Binge Drinking Among College Athletes and Non-Athletes

Concerns about incidence, forms, and consequences of alcohol use among college students lack examinations of the lifestyles and predictors of college student athletes. This article, using a sample of student-athletes and non-athletes from four Southern universities, identifies the lifestyle predictors for each population, identifying patterns and sets of predictors of binge drinking behavior. Findings indicate that for both samples, binge drinking behavior is explained by sex, drinking in bars, number of male friends who drink, and cigarette smoking. Student-athletes' binge drinking is explained further by residing on campus. Non-athlete binge drinking is related to race and amount of study time per week. Implications for these findings are also discussed.     

Adolescent Nonsmokers,Triers, and Regular Smokers' Estimates of Cigarette Smoking Prevalence: When Do Overestimations Occur and by Whom?1

The present study tested three assumptions often made by smoking prevention researchers and practitioners regarding the nature and causes of smoking prevalence estimates. Specifically, it is often assumed that (a) adolescent prevalence estimates of all levels of smoking are inflated, (b) youths at different stages of smoking onset all overestimate smoking prevalence, and (c) the predictors of these estimates are the same for youths at different stages of smoking onset. Measures of smoking behavior based on self-reports using a bogus pipeline procedure, estimates of cigarette smoking prevalence (trying behavior and weekly use), and reports of smoking in significant others were obtained by the same youths when they were in eighth and ninth grades. Results indicated that, taken over all youths, estimates of trying cigarettes were accurate, whereas estimates of weekly use were inflated. When responders were defined by their stage of smoking onset, either as a nonsmoker, trier, or regular smoker, analyses revealed that triers were accurate regarding prevalence estimates of trying, whereas non-smokers made gross underestimations and regular smokers made overestimations of trying. All groups of youths overestimated prevalence of weekly smoking. Analyses of variance revealed that both youths' smoking status and interpersonal smoking environment additively predicted prevalence estimates, and estimates of smoking prevalence were relatively higher in youths who began to smoke, or increased their levels of smoking, within the next year. Thus, previous assumptions were partially confirmed. Future research and prevention programming should focus more on regular smoking as the focus of normative smoking distortion effects and correction efforts.     

Adolescents' Cognitive Appraisals of Cigarette Smoking: An Application of the Protection Motivation Theory1

High-school students (N = 690) provided their cognitive appraisals of protection motivation theory (PMT; Prentice-Dunn & Rogers, 1986) factors in the context of cigarette smoking. A logistic regression analysis revealed that PMT predicted adolescents' current smoking behavior. Cognitions, including greater personal vulnerability to smoking-related diseases, minimizing the severity of the consequences of smoking, perceiving adolescent male smokers to be popular and mature, and perceiving limited health benefits for not smoking were found to be significant predictors of current smoking behavior. Intending to quit smoking in the near future was related to smoking occasionally, as opposed to regularly, and to perceiving the long-term risks of smoking to be severe. Possible applications for intervention programs are discussed.     

Negative mood regulation mediates the relationship between distraction and engagement in pleasurable activities among college smokers

Smoking for negative mood alleviation is a strong predictor of early smoking and early dependence among undergraduates. Little is known about whether adaptive cognitive coping processes (e.g., distraction) may help decrease the likelihood of student smoking for negative mood regulation. The present study tested the hypothesis that distraction would predict (a) greater engagement in adaptive pleasant pastimes and (b) lower rates of smoking behavior among undergraduates (n = 162, 41.9% female). We further assessed whether negative mood regulation expectations would explain both relationships. Results indicated that negative mood regulation fully mediated the relationship between distraction and engagement in pleasurable activities among college smokers. Although the relationships among distraction, negative mood regulation, and cigarette consumption were not significant, they were in the expected direction (negative). Results from the present study point to the importance of prevention efforts focused on enhancing cognitive coping skills in college smokers. Such a focus may lead to more frequent adaptive cognitive coping during negative mood states, presumably instead of smoking.