An E-Mail Assessment of Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward Smoking

Abstract

Responses from 513 of 1,000 randomly selected undergraduate students who were sent an e-mail questionnaire, about cigarette smoking were analyzed. Thirteen percent of the respondents identified themselves as smokers. No statistically significant differences were observed between smokers and non-smokers and year in college, sex, age, race, or having attended public or private high schools. Ninety-eight percent of the respondents considered themselves knowledgeable about adverse health consequences of smoking, yet 39.1% of current smokers seriously considered stopping smoking, and 11.5% of current nonsmokers intended to start smoking. The preferred quitting method of smokers and ex-smokers was stopping all at once (“cold turkey”). Fifty-two percent of the smokers did not want professional assistance to stop smoking; 40% of the nonsmokers wanted information on second-hand smoke.

Key Words:

• college students
• prevention
• second-hand smoke
• smoking cessation
• smoking

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sally R. Rinaldi

Robert L. DeBernardo is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Yale University Medical School, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut Medical School, and chief of preventive medicine and health education of the Yale Health Plan. At the time this study was conducted. Carmen E. Aldinger, Omar R. Dawood, Robert E. Hanson, and Sung-Jae Lee were public health students at Yale, where Sally R. Rinaldi is a health educator with Yale University Health Services.