Intent to quit among daily and non-daily college student smokers

Given the high prevalence of young adult smoking, we examined (i) psychosocial factors and substance use among college students representing five smoking patterns and histories [non-smokers, quitters, native non-daily smokers (i.e. never daily smokers), converted non-daily smokers (i.e. former daily smokers) and daily smokers] and (ii) smoking category as it relates to readiness to quit among current smokers. Of the 4438 students at six Southeast colleges who completed an online survey, 69.7 (n = 3094) were non-smokers, 6.6 (n = 293) were quitters, 7.1 (n = 317) were native non-daily smokers, 6.4 (n = 283) were converted non-daily smokers and 10.2 (n = 451) were daily smokers. There were differences in sociodemographics, substance use (alcohol, marijuana, other tobacco products) in the past 30 days and psychosocial factors among these subgroups of students (P < 0.001). Among current smokers, there were differences in cigarettes smoked per day, recent quit attempts, self-identification as a smoker, self-efficacy and motivation to quit (P < 0.001). After controlling for important factors, converted non-daily smokers were more likely to be ready to quit in the next month versus native non-daily smokers (OR = 2.15, CI 1.32-3.49, P = 0.002). Understanding differences among young adults with different smoking patterns and histories is critical in developing interventions targeting psychosocial factors impacting cessation among this population.