Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · May 1987
Use of smokeless tobacco among children and adolescents in the United States.
Data collected by National Cancer Institute grantees on the use of smokeless tobacco by youth are reported. Self-reports were collected from over 43,000 students from grades 4 through 11 in 16 locations in the United States and 1 location in Canada. Lifetime and recent use of smokeless tobacco are reported by location, sex, grade level, and ethnic group. ⋯ Smokeless tobacco use by Hispanics was comparable to that by whites. Collectively, the data indicate that large numbers of male youths in many areas of the United States are using smokeless tobacco. In light of recent research on the health consequences of using smokeless tobacco, the health of these youth may be endangered.
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Preventive medicine · May 1987
Adolescent smokeless tobacco incidence: relations with other drugs and psychosocial variables.
This article presents data regarding the prevalence of trying smokeless tobacco in a longitudinal sample of 2,714 urban, ethnically diverse adolescent males and females. A predominance of trial use was found in white males in 8th and 9th grades. Also presented is the relation of smokeless tobacco onset to experimentation with other drugs (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana), cigarette smoking in significant others, self-image as a smoker, risk taking, and smoking refusal self-efficacy. ⋯ Finally, onset was more probable in individuals who had previously tried alcoholic beverages and marijuana, and who reported enjoying taking risks. A multivariate logistic regression analysis retained sex, smoking level, beer and wine use, and risk taking as predictors of smokeless tobacco onset. Apparently, smokeless tobacco is an additional activity in which drug-experimenting male adolescents are likely to participate.
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Preventive medicine · May 1987
Smokeless tobacco use among male adolescents: patterns, correlates, predictors, and the use of other drugs.
Questionnaire data from a sample of 3,023 adolescents indicated that over 60% of boys have tried smokeless tobacco, and 7% use it daily. Daily users reported an average of 5.3 uses per day. Among boys the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use in the past 6 months (18.8%) was higher than that for cigarette use (10.4%). ⋯ Among daily users, the initial rate of use was the best prospective predictor of rate of use at follow-up (r = 0.576). Smokeless tobacco use was related to the use of other drugs, with 83% of male daily users indicating concurrent use of alcohol, marijuana, and/or cigarettes (tau = 0.354, 0.210, and 0.284, respectively). The use of smokeless tobacco was a prospective risk factor for the onset or increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana.