Cigarette Use Among Young Adults: Comparisons Between 2-Year College Students, 4-Year College Students, and Those Not in College

OBJECTIVE: To examine cigarette smoking among young adults based on education status. PARTICIPANTS: Community-based sample of 2,694 young adults in the United States METHODS: The authors compared 3 groups--those not in college with no college degree, 2-year college students/graduates, 4-year college students/graduates--on various smoking measures: ever smoked, smoked in past month, smoked in past week, consider self a smoker, began smoking before age 15, smoked over 100 cigarettes in lifetime, ever tried to quit, and plan to quit in next year. RESULTS: The authors found that for nearly all the smoking measures, the 4-year college group was at lowest risk, the noncollege group was at highest risk, and the 2-year college group represented a midpoint. Differences between groups remain after adjusting for parents' education and other potential confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking behaviors clearly differ between the 2-year, 4-year, and no college groups. Interventions should be tailored for each group.