OBJECTIVE Young smokers commonly identify themselves as "social smokers," a pattern of smoking behavior that is poorly understood. We assessed the prevalence and correlates of social smoking among US college students. METHODS Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 10,904 students enrolled at 119 nationally representative US colleges in 2001. RESULTS A total of 51% of 2401 current (pas...

DiFranza's rebuttal to our critique of the "Hooked on Nicotine" research program misconstrues our arguments beyond recognition. The grossest misrepresentation of our critique by DiFranza is that we devise (by thwarting science) to rescue "the conventional wisdom" of the "threshold model of nicotine addiction." In fact, the difference between our positions lies elsewhere: We believe that nicotin...

Research on the genetics of smoking has increased our understanding of nicotine dependence, and it is likely to illuminate the mechanisms by which cigarette smoking adversely effects the health of smokers. Given recent advances in molecular biology, including the completion of the draft sequence of the human genome, interest has now turned to identifying gene markers that predict a heightened r...

OBJECTIVE In a multigenerational study of smoking risk, the objective was to investigate the intergenerational transmission of smoking by examining if exposure to parental smoking and nicotine dependence predicts prospective smoking trajectories among adolescent offspring. METHODS Adolescents (n = 406) ages 12 to 17 and a parent completed baseline interviews (2001-2004), and adolescents compl...

Behavioral responses to surveys can significantly affect inferences about population prevalence unless correctly modeled statistically. An important case study is the prevalence of nicotine dependence, a formal psychiatric disorder satisfying clinical criteria. Data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions in the United States are used, along with a flexible semi...

AIMS To examine the significance of the transtheoretical processes of change in predicting transition through the stages of change in adolescent smokers, as well as the relative role of nicotine dependence in predicting stage transitions. DESIGN In grades 9 and 10, adolescents' stage of change, the use of processes of change and nicotine dependence were assessed (T1). Stage transitions were a...

OBJECTIVES It has been assumed that nicotine dependence has a slow onset and occurs only after prolonged daily use of tobacco. A cohort of young adolescents was followed to determine when the first symptoms of nicotine dependence occur with respect to the duration and frequency of tobacco use. DESIGN A cohort of 681 seventh grade students (age 12-13 years) from seven schools in two small citi...

BACKGROUND No information is available on the co-occurrence of DSM-IV nicotine dependence and Axis I and II psychiatric disorders in the US population. OBJECTIVES To present national data on the co-occurrence of current DSM-IV nicotine dependence and other psychiatric disorders by sex and to estimate the burden of all US tobacco consumption carried by nicotine-dependent and psychiatrically il...

Alcohol and nicotine are often co-abused. Although the N/OFQ-NOP receptor system is considered a potential target for development of drug abuse pharmacotherapies, especially for alcoholism, little is known about the role of this system in nicotine dependence. Furthermore, the effect of prior history of nicotine dependence on subsequent nicotine and alcohol taking is understudied. Using an opera...