According to the 2022 National College Health Assessment, 29% of college students reported using a tobacco product within the past three months. The most popular product reported was e-cigarettes, followed by cigarettes. Tobacco is one of the leading preventable causes of disease and death in the nation. There are more than 480,000 tobacco-related deaths each year in the United States and an additional 34,000 deaths from secondhand smoke. This study aims to examine the peer-individual and school domain factors, including social, psychological demographic, and trauma-related characteristics, with daily tobacco use among college students.
The study consisted of 817 students from a large Midwestern university. Demographic characteristics, alcohol use, tobacco use, marijuana use, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and mental health data were all collected via online surveys. Of the 817 students, roughly 8.4% reported using tobacco every day. Males were found to be more likely to engage in tobacco use than females. Results also showed that students with a C- F average reported higher rates of daily tobacco use than students with an A- B average. Third, fourth, fifth-year and graduate students reported higher rates of everyday tobacco use than first- and second-year students.
The result of the study also found that self-injury and poor mental health correlated with daily tobacco use. The study goes on to suggest that this could be due to students using everyday tobacco use to cope and that campus-based programs that teach positive coping skills to students could help address this. Also, due to males being much more likely to partake in daily tobacco use, some prevention efforts should be targeted toward males. Students would also benefit from prevention efforts that also address smoking cessation., alcohol and drug abuse, and mental health support.
Takeaway: Many factors are correlated to daily tobacco use, such as year in school, grade point, gender, mental health, and more.