Smoking frequency among current college student smokers: distinguishing characteristics and factors related to readiness to quit smoking

Given the increased prevalence of non-daily smoking and changes in smoking patterns, particularly among young adults, we examined correlates of smoking level, specifically motives for smoking, and readiness to quit smoking among 2682 college undergraduates who completed an online survey. Overall, 64.7% (n = 1736) were non-smokers, 11.6% (n = 312) smoked 1-5 days, 10.5% (n = 281) smoked 6-29 days and 13.2% (n = 353) were daily smokers. Ordinal regression analyses modeling smoking level indicated that correlates of higher smoking level included having more friends who smoke (β = 0.63, 95% CI 0.57-0.69) and more frequent other tobacco use (β = 0.04, 95% CI 0.02-0.05), drinking (β = 0.04, 95% CI 0.02-0.07) and binge drinking (β = 0.09, 95% CI 0.06-0.13). Bivariate analyses indicated that daily smokers (versus the subgroups of non-daily smokers) were less likely to smoke for social reasons but more likely to smoke for self-confidence, boredom, and affect regulation. Controlling for sociodemographics, correlates of readiness to quit among current smokers included fewer friends who smoke (P = 0.002), less frequent binge drinking (P = 0.03), being a social smoker (P < 0.001), smoking less for self-confidence (P = 0.04), smoking more for boredom (P = 0.03) and less frequent smoking (P = 0.001). Specific motives for smoking and potential barriers to cessation particularly may be relevant to different groups of college student smokers.