PREVALENCE OF CIGARETTE SMOKING AMONG RURAL ADOLESCENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

Results are reported from a national U.S. study of cigarette smoking carried out from 1996 to 2000 involving 68,270 adolescents. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to model smoking as a function of grade, gender, region, and community size (rurality). Significant effects were found for rurality, region, grade, and gender. The highest levels of smoking were found for rural adolescents, and adolescents living in the South. Males smoked more than females in all regions except the West, where the reverse was true. Given that rural adolescents smoke more “heavily” than do their nonrural peers, researchers must devote more attention to understanding the factors that underlie smoking initiation in rural youth. [Translations are provided in the International Abstracts Section of this issue.]

• Cigarette smoking
• Rural

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patricia A. Aloise-Young

Patricia A. Aloise-Young, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Research Associate of the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University. Dr. Aloise-Young is a developmental psychologist whose primary research area is psychosocial correlates of cigarette smoking onset. Dr. Aloise-Young is especially interested in the factors that distinguish between preadolescent and adolescent onset of cigarette use.

Jeffrey C. Wayman

Jeff Wayman, Ph.D., works as a research associate at the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University. He holds an M.S. in Statistics and a Ph.D. in Education from CSU. His research interests involve school dropouts, at-risk issues, and methodological issues, most currently multilevel models and multiple imputation.

Ruth W. Edwards

Ruth W. Edwards, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist and Co-Director of the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University. Dr. Edwards has been involved in research on social problems in rural communities, particularly substance use and violence, for over two decades. She is currently conducting two research projects funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse addressing community level factors and how they may interact with substance use patterns of youth.