Identifying "social smoking" U.S. young adults using an empirically-driven approach

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Sociology

Background:

• Social smoking is a prevalent behavior among young adults.
• Understanding social and contextual influences on tobacco use is crucial for targeted interventions.
• Previous research has not fully distinguished social smokers as a unique class based on these influences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify distinct classes of young adult ever smokers based on social and contextual influences.
• To analyze the characteristics of these identified classes, particularly focusing on social smoking behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Latent class models were employed using social smoking measures, excluding frequency and quantity of tobacco use.
• Data were collected from a national sample of young adult ever smokers aged 18-24 (N=1564).

Main Results:

• Three latent classes were identified: non-smokers (52%), social smokers (18%), and smokers (30%).
• The social smoker class predominantly used tobacco with others and showed high hookah use.
• While distinct, the non-smoker class also reported past 30-day use of various tobacco and e-cigarette products.

Conclusions:

• Young adult social smokers constitute a distinct empirical class, separate from other smokers, irrespective of usage frequency or intensity.
• The high prevalence of hookah use within the social smoker group suggests a potential pathway for experimentation and progression to regular tobacco use driven by social factors.