NCJ Number
185256
Journal
Addiction Volume: 94 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 913-921
Date Published
June 2000
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of adolescent cigarette smoking (lifetime use, recent use, frequency, and age of onset) on the occurrence of substance use disorders during young adulthood.
Abstract
Participants (n=1709) were assessed while in high school (T1), approximately 1 year later (T2), and then after they had turned 24 years of age (T3). Adolescents were randomly selected at T1 from nine senior high schools in western Oregon. A subset of 684 adolescents who had been assessed regarding cigarette smoking during high school were evaluated for alcohol, cannabis, and other drug abuse/dependence up to age 24. Semistructured interviews provided information on lifetime use of cigarettes and chewing tobacco, age of smoking onset, frequency and quantity of cigarette smoking, and efforts to quit smoking in adolescence. Diagnoses of substance abuse and dependence in young adulthood were made according to DSM-IV criteria. Findings show that lifetime smoking among older adolescents significantly increased the probability of future alcohol, cannabis, hard drug, and multiple drug use disorders during young adulthood. Having been a smoker did not reduce the risk of future substance use disorder, although having maintained smoking cessation for more than 12 months was associated with significantly lower rates of future alcohol use disorder. Daily smoking was associated with increased risk of future cannabis, hard drugs, and multiple drug use disorders. Among daily smokers, earlier smoking onset age predicted future substance use disorders. The results extend knowledge about relationships between cigarette smoking during adolescence and the development of substance use disorders during young adulthood, illustrating additional risks associated with early cigarette smoking. Future research should examine potential causal associations. 1 table and 27 references