Cigarette Use Among Young Adults: Comparisons Between 2-Year College Students, 4-Year College Students, and Those Not in College

Abstract

To examine cigarette smoking among young adults based on education status. Community-based sample of 2,694 young adults in U.S. We compared three groups—those not in college with no college degree; two-year college students/graduates; four-year college students/graduates—on various smoking measures: ever smoked, smoked in past month, smoked in past week, consider self a smoker, began smoking before age 15, smoked over 100 cigarettes in lifetime, ever tried to quit, and plan to quit in next year. We found that for nearly all our smoking measures the four-year college group was at lowest risk, the non-college group was at highest risk, and the two-year college group represented a midpoint. Differences between groups remain after adjusting for parents’ education and other potential confounding factors. Smoking behaviors clearly differ between the two-year, four-year, and no college groups. Interventions should be tailored for each group.