Smokeless tobacco use among adolescents: demographic differences, other substance use, and psychological correlates

Use of smokeless tobacco by Mexican-American high school students

A survey of 208 girls and 191 boys attending a public high school in southwestern New Mexico was conducted to examine students' use of smokeless tobacco products. One Mexican-American girl identified herself as a user of chewing tobacco. Of the boys 8% (17) indicated that they used chewing tobacco and 7% (15) reported that they dipped snuff. 6% (12) indicated use of both snuff and chewing tobacco. The boys included 153 Mexican-Americans of whom 7% used smokeless tobacco and 26 Anglo-Americans of whom 34% were users.

Smokeless tobacco consumption by Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans in southwestern New Mexico

A telephone survey was conducted to compare the extent of smokeless tobacco consumption by Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans. Using systematic random sampling, one out of every 25 phone numbers was selected from the Grant County, New Mexico, telephone directory. Two hundred and ten individuals were interviewed. All of the female respondents, including 46 Mexican-Americans and 81 Anglo-Americans, indicated that they did not use smokeless tobacco. Twenty-five percent of the 51 Anglo-American males and 26% of the 30 Mexican-American males identified themselves as consumers of smokeless tobacco. A chi-square analysis revealed no significance difference between the number of Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans among the male self-identified users of smokeless tobacco.

Correlates of exclusive or combined use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco among male adolescents

Past studies which examined correlates of smokeless tobacco or cigarette use have investigated use of one tobacco product regardless of use of the other product. Thus, the etiology of exclusive use of the two tobacco products is not clear. The present study investigated the relationship of problem-prone-related variables to exclusive versus overlapping use of smokeless tobacco and cigarettes. Two samples of southern California male students (eighth-grade and high school) were divided into groups according to their tobacco use status: neither product, cigarettes only, smokeless tobacco only, or both tobacco products. Generally, triers and monthly users of both tobacco products reported a higher risk-taking preference, greater susceptibility to peer social influence to use tobacco products, and greater likelihood to have tried marijuana and alcohol than did subjects who were not users of either tobacco product. Adolescents who used either product, but not both, reported similar scores on most of the variables examined, which fell in between combined or nonuse categories. These results suggest that the number of tobacco products used, not the specific product, is associated with problem-prone attributes.

Psychosocial correlates of adolescent substance use: a review of current etiological constructs

This article reviews psychosocial correlates of adolescent substance use by focusing on the recent empirical literature. Using a tabular format, an attempt is made to provide a facile tool for referencing the literature. Examination of the literature reveals considerable diversity among explanations regarding the variance explained by many of the correlates studied. While the field strives toward a consistent theoretical base from which effective interventions may be developed, researchers must specify the nature of their study populations, designs, methodological approaches, and any issues of generalizability. Only in this way will inconsistencies in study findings be reconciled and progress toward culturally specific intervention techniques be furthered.

Correlates of Cocaine Use among Adolescents

In 1985, 2,926 seventh, ninth, and eleventh graders from the Ventura County School District were surveyed to determine the extent of their drug use and the psychosocial correlates of such use. The sample was divided into roughly equal numbers of girls and boys. Differential patterns associated with cocaine use were examined separately for each gender by grade grouping for eight domains of variables. These domains were selected on the basis of theory and previous research and include life satisfaction, emotional distress, perceived adult drug use, peer tolerance of drug use, parental approval of drug use, academic orientation, social conformity, and other drug use. In general, cocaine use was significantly correlated with several affective, attitudinal, and behavioral variables. However, only other drug use was significantly and uniquely associated with cocaine use when all the other variables were controlled. Thus, for this group of teenagers, there was no discernable integrated lifestyle specific to cocaine; cocaine use was integrated into a lifestyle of general drug use or poly-drug use.

Smokeless tobacco use among Ontario students

The use of smokeless tobacco among adolescents has emerged as a public health concern. We report here estimates of use and characteristics of users among a probability sample of 4,267 Ontario (Canada) students aged thirteen to nineteen years. The results indicated that smokeless tobacco use was not common, varying from 1 percent to 3 percent depending upon age and gender, but was more likely to occur among smokers (10% to 32%). The group most prone to use was young smoking males.