Surveying Tobacco Use and Evaluating Tobacco Control on College Campuses Margaret S. Stockdale Southern Illinois University Carbondale Lynda M. Sagrestano Southern Illinois University Carbondale Osvaldo F. Morera University of Texas El Paso Anne P. Hubbell New Mexico State University

Surveying Smoking Behavior and Evaluating Tobacco Control on a College Campus: An In-Depth Surveillance of Tobacco Use on a College Campus Margaret Stockdale, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Southern Illinois University Carbondale

This presentation will: Examine smoking patterns at a single university using 3 waves of survey data. Reveal gender and class standing differences in smoking-prevalence changes. Discuss possible tobacco-control policy & campaign explanations for smoking prevalence changes

Who we are and what we did SIUC taskforce assembled by the Illinois Department of Public Health Charge: Develop and evaluate a college-based tobacco control campaign geared primarily to women. Live Free – Tobacco Free –Cessation aids and programs –Curriculum Development (Prevention) –Policy and Advocacy Development –Media Campaign –Evaluation

Evaluation and Surveillance Focus group research (Sagrestano) Campus-wide surveys (Stockdale) Fall, 2001: Assemble Team, Focus Groups, Background Research Spring, 2002: Campus Survey 1, Free cessation aids, simple media campaign Fall, 2002: Campus Survey 2, Limited free cessation aids, expanded media campaign, 2 smoke free dorms Spring, 2002: Campus Survey 3, cessation services, media campaign, policy and curriculum development, smoke-free bar night.

Campus-Wide Surveys Stratified Random Cluster Sampling –Obtained complete on-campus class listing –Cleaned –Determined Sample Size (680 for 95% CI +/- 5%) –Sorted listing by class level; randomly select 1% of classes in each strata (  40 total) Procedure –Recruited instructors (  50% initial agreement) –Administered surveys in classes (  90% response rate)

Survey – Smoking Behavior YTS, ATS, BRFSS Smokers: Lifetime use  100 cigarettes and currently smoke every day or some days Ex-smokers: Lifetime use  100 cigarettes but currently do not smoke. Non-smokers: Lifetime use < 100 cigarettes and currently do not smoke. Other tobacco use measured, but not reported in this presentation

Smoking Attitudes Smoking Attitude Scale (Shore,Taschian & Adams, 2000) & other items - Bars & Restaurants: preference for nonsmoking bars and restaurants - ETC Concerns: concerns about environmental tobacco smoke - Advertising Laws: the belief in laws that ban cigarette advertising and sales - Relationships with Smokers: willingness to have relationships with smokers - Smoking Restrictions: belief in smoking restrictions (i.e. in public places)

Social Influences –No. adults in household who smoke. –No. adults in household who use other tobacco products. –No. of last 7 days someone smoked/used tobacco inside your residence. –No. of last 7 days someone smoked inside your car. –No. of 4 closest friends who smoke.

Demographics Gender Age Class Standing Ethnicity Residence Sexual Orientation Marital Status

Spring 2002Fall 2002Spring 2003 N Gender Male320 (51.4%)340 (51.6%)213 (40.0%) Female302 (48.6%)319 (48.4%)319 (60.0%) Class Status Freshman96 (15.3%)115 (17.7%)32 (6.0%) Sophomore91 (14.5%)141 (21.7%)73 (13.7%) Junior142 (22.7%)161 (24.7%)105 (19.7%) Senior189 (30.2%)149 (22.9%)193 (36.3%) Grad/Law108 (17.3%)85 (13.0%)129 (24.3%) Table 1: Sample Size, Gender, and Class Composition

Figure 1: College Students' Smoking Status: Spring 02 to Spring 03

Figure 2: Percent of Smokers by Survey Period and Gender

Figure 3: Percent Smokers by Survey Period and Class Standing

Figure 4: Undergraduate Smokers by Class, Gender, and Year

Figure 5: Cohort Analysis – Spring 02 to Fall 02

Figure 6: Change in College Students' Tobacco Attitudes from Spring 02 to Fall 02

Figure 7: Change in College Students' Social Influences on Smoking: Spring 02 to Spring 03

What did we say and what does this mean? Smoking rates decreased fairly dramatically in one semester and remained constant in the next semester. Women’s rates of smoking decreased the most, especially freshmen women. The Freshmen and Sophomore years appear to be volatile for both smoking initiation and cessation, especially for women.

Possible explanations Illinois raised its cigarette tax by almost $1.00/pack in the summer of 2002 SIUC anti-tobacco campaign was targeted primarily at women Need to continue to explore factors that influence college students decisions about tobacco use.