Predictors of smokeless tobacco use by adolescents

Sixth and seventh graders (N = 2,020) were surveyed to determine the prevalence of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and peer and parental influences on SLT use. Nearly 34% of boys and 12% of girls had used SLT at some time, and 8% of boys and 1% of girls were current users. While most associations were significant, the strongest relationships were between subjects' and peers' use of SLT. Logistic regression showed that the odds ratios for predicting adolescent's current use of SLT were 13.6 for peer use, 6.0 for male gender, 2.8 for white race, 2.8 for fathers' and 8.0 for mothers' ever use of SLT, and 2.6 if the mother was not a high school graduate. Results support the need for a multidisciplinary approach to research, education, treatment, and prevention to combat this growing health risk.