Background/Purpose: Adults of college age (18 to 25 years) represent the youngest legal targets for the tobacco industry. The purpose of this investigation was to distinguish among those differing in smoking status based on the Health Belief Model (HBM).
Method: Participants in the study were students from two different universities. The testing instrument was a questionnaire containing demographic information, items dealing with smoking status (current user, former user, and never user), and variables measuring the HBM (peer norms, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, costs/benefits, and self-efficacy). Participants voluntarily completed the questionnaire online using SurveyMonkey. Data were analyzed using SAS programs to perform descriptive analyses and logistic regression.
Analysis/Results: The total number of participants were: N = 561, comprised of n = 399 women (71%), n = 162 men (29%). To determine whether HBM variables could, as a set, distinguish between students differing in smoking status, a logistic regression was conducted by gender and without regard to gender. In all three analyses the predictor variables, as a set, did significantly distinguish among those who differ in smoking status. For males: peer norms (X2=26.30, p<.0001); percent concordant=50.1. For females: peer norms (X2=64.74, p<.0001) and perceived susceptibility (X2=10.08, p<.01); percent concordant=60.6. For all participants: peer norms (X2=11.19, p<.001), perceived susceptibility (X2=89.44, p<.0001), and self-efficacy (X2=3.86, p<.05); percent concordant=62.7 all made unique contributions to distinguishing among participants as to smoking status.
Conclusions: Results suggest HBM variables may influence differences in smoking status among college students. Those designing smoking cessation interventions should take results into account.