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Few studies have examined in detail how specific behaviors of close friends put adolescents at risk for specific types of substance use. Using a prospective, longitudinal design, we examined how well the substance use of 248 young urban adolescents was predicted by perceptions of their 3 closest friends' problematic behaviors: (1) using substances, (2) offering substances, and (3) engaging with friends in risky behavior (substance use, illegal behavior, violent behavior, or high-risk sexual behavior). Longitudinal multivariate repeated measures models were tested to predict tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use and perceived closeness was tested as a moderator of the effects of perceptions of problematic peer behavior. Perceptions of peer substance use were significantly associated with tobacco use, and closeness moderated the influence of peer substance use and offers to use substances on tobacco use. Perceptions of problematic peer behaviors were not significantly associated with alcohol use and closeness was not significant as a moderator. Perceptions of peer substance use was significantly associated with cannabis use, and closeness moderated the influence of perceptions of peer risk behaviors, peer substance use, and offers to use substances on cannabis use. Results implicate the importance of understanding problematic peer behavior within the context of close, adolescent friendships. Adolescents with close friends who were substance users, who made offers to use substances, and who engaged in risky behaviors were more likely to use tobacco and cannabis. Perceptions of young adolescents' close friends' behaviors influenced their substance use up to 2 years later. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Aims: Little is known about smoking during the transition to college. The current study examined trajectories of smoking among college freshmen, how trajectories predicted later smoking and the social context of smoking., Design: Weekly assessments of daily smoking were collected via the web during the first year of college for a large cohort with a previous history of smoking., Participants and Setting: A total of 193 college freshmen from a large public university with a previous history of smoking who smoked frequently enough to be included in trajectory analysis., Measurements: Measures included weekly reports of daily smoking, family smoking, perceived peer attitudes and smoking, social norms and social smoking environment., Findings: Seven trajectories were identified: one of low-level sporadic smoking, one of low-level smoking with a small increase during the year, two classes with a substantial decrease during the year, two classes with relatively small decreases and one class with a substantial increase in smoking. Trajectories of smoking in the freshman year predicted levels of sophomore year smoking, and some social context variables tended to change as smoking increased or decreased for a given trajectory class., Conclusions: The transition into college is marked by changes in smoking, with smoking escalating for some students and continuing into the sophomore year. Shifts in social context that support smoking were associated with trajectories of smoking. Despite the focus of developmental models on smoking in early adolescence, the transition into college warrants further investigation as a dynamic period for smoking.

Objective: This paper examines overall and gender- and racial/ethnic-specific relationships between exposure to state-sponsored anti-tobacco televised advertising and smoking-related outcomes among US middle and high school students using five years of cross-sectional nationally representative data., Design: Nationally representative 8th, 10th, and 12th grade student sample data for 1999-2003 were merged with commercial ratings data on mean potential audience exposure to network and cable television anti-tobacco advertising across the 74 largest US designated market areas, resulting in a final sample size for analysis of 122,340. Associations between state-sponsored anti-tobacco televised advertising exposure and youth smoking-related beliefs and behaviours were modelled while controlling for relevant individual and environmental factors as well as other televised tobacco-related advertising., Results: Higher potential for exposure to state anti-tobacco advertising within the previous four months was generally associated with decreasing odds of current smoking across groups. In addition, such exposure was related, to varying degrees, with decreased perceptions that most/all friends smoked, stronger five-year intentions not to smoke, and increased perceived harm of smoking. These relationships appeared possibly to be weaker for Asian students., Conclusions: The results from these analyses indicate that state anti-tobacco advertising significantly relates to beneficial outcomes -- especially regarding current smoking behaviour -- among US youth as a whole.

Although the initiation of cigarette use typically occurs prior to age 18, there is evidence for considerable change in smoking behavior after this age. College may be a particularly important period to study smoking because it is a time when adolescents transition into a new social context where substance use is normative. Using a longitudinal design, daily assessments of smoking were collected during the entire first year of college for a large cohort of freshman (N=496). Findings suggested a weekly cycle of smoking such that the probability of smoking was much higher on weekends (Friday and Saturday) than on remaining days of the week. In addition to this weekly cycle, there was an overall trend for smoking to decline over the course of the year. Substantial individual variability in levels of smoking was observed. These findings provide new insights into college smoking, and have implications for assessment, policy, intervention, and future directions for research.

Recruitment of adolescents into tobacco use research is often challenging. This study reports on the predictors of recruitment and retention in a longitudinal study of adolescent smoking behavior. In 2000, 8th and 10th grade students at 18 schools (N = 5,298) in the Chicago metropolitan area completed brief screening surveys; 1457 students (ranging from susceptible nonsmokers to regular smokers) were invited to participate in a longitudinal study, and 48.9% agreed. Chi-square analyses revealed that female and white students were more likely to participate than male and nonwhite students. Recruitment rates did not vary by parental smoking status, students' experience with smoking, or student grade. Multivariate analyses revealed that overall, gender and race were significant predictors of participation. Chi-square and multivariate analyses revealed no significant differences in retention on the demographic, smoking experience, or psychosocial variables measured. Implications of the results and study limitations are discussed.

Outcome expectancies have been related to smoking behavior among adults, but less attention has been given to expectancies about smoking among adolescents at differing levels of smoking experience. The present study reports the psychometric properties and predictive validity of a brief expectancy scale across two samples of adolescents. Sample 1 (N = 349) consisted of high school students (54% female) who were regular smokers enrolled in a cessation program. Sample 2 (N = 273) consisted of 8th- and 10th-grade early experimenters (54% female) involved in a natural history study of smoking trajectories. In both samples, a principal component analysis of a 13-item expectancy scale yielded four factors (taste, weight control, boredom relief, and negative affect management), each with high internal consistency (coefficient alphas >.77) and accounting for 73% and 80% of the total variance for each sample, respectively. Expectancies were significantly higher among current smokers than among early initiators. In Sample 1, boredom relief and weight management expectancies predicted smoking status 6 months later. In Sample 2, students whose smoking increased over 18 months had higher overall expectancies at baseline compared with those who tried smoking and did not escalate. These findings support the predictive validity of expectancies in predicting escalation and cessation. Implications for the importance of expectancies in understanding adolescent smoking behavior are considered.

Very few studies have defined trajectories of smoking. In the present study, we modeled growth in adolescent smoking and empirically identified prototypical trajectories. We conceptualized escalation of smoking as a growth process and modeled rates of change and heterogeneity of these patterns using latent growth mixture modeling. The analysis identified six trajectories with low ambiguity about group membership (early rapid escalators, late rapid escalators, late moderate escalators, late slow escalators-smokers, stable puffers, and late slow escalators-puffers). A trajectory of quitters was not identified. We also examined predictors of the smoking trajectories. The predictors were assessed across the adolescent years and included variables related to smoking and other substance use, as well as a range of variables related to sociodemographic factors and mental health. Observed change in the pattern of predictors across age has implications for the mechanism of effect of these variables in relation to smoking trajectories, including predictors that differentiated among daily smokers, variables that may determine the trajectory (e.g., friends smoking), and variables that may result from the trajectory (e.g., marijuana use, less attachment to friends).

Aims: To demonstrate that intentions predict long-term future levels of smoking, irrespective of level of past smoking experience. A growing body of research suggests that intentions about future smoking might play an important role in addition to the influence of past smoking experience on the likelihood of smoking in future., Design: Using logistic regression analyses, we assessed the relationship between baseline smoking experience and a firm intention 'not to be smoking cigarettes 5 years from now' with four outcome measures of smoking at follow-up: 30-day smoking at a 3/4- and 5/6-year follow-up and current established smoking (self-described regular smokers or former smokers who had smoked in the past 30 days) at a 3/4- and 5/6-year follow-up., Participants: US nationally representative samples of 12th graders who responded to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey from the years 1976 to 1993, inclusive. For these panels, we linked stage of smoking and intentions at 12th grade to follow-up measures of smoking collected at 3/4 years after baseline and 5/6 years after baseline., Findings: Analysis of 3/4-year follow-up data (weighted n = 4544) and 5/6-year follow-up data (weighted n = 3885) for both definitions of smoking outcome indicated that there was a dose-response relationship between levels of baseline smoking experience and the likelihood of future smoking. In addition, independent of baseline smoking experience, there was a statistically significant protective effect for a firm intention not to smoke in five year's time on future smoking behavior., Conclusions: The findings suggest that evaluative studies of tobacco control policies and programs might usefully employ smoking uptake categories that incorporate smoking intentions as early indicators of outcome.

Explores sources of drugs and weapons for a group of pre-adolescents living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Chicago using a focus group and a self-administered survey. At least one-third of the sample of fifth-grade students responded that it was easy for people their age to obtain each of the products. Neighborhood sources were the most likely sources perceived to be easy. (Author/MKA)

Purpose: Interventions to improve school ethos can reduce substance use but “upstream” causal pathways relating to implementation and school-level changes are uncertain. We use qualitative and quantitative data from a pilot trial to build hypotheses regarding these. Methods: The Healthy School Ethos intervention involved two schools being provided with facilitation, training, and funding to plan and implement actions (some mandatory and some locally determined) to improve school ethos over one year. The evaluation involved a pilot-trial with two intervention and two comparison schools; semi-structured interviews with facilitators, staff, and students; and baseline and follow-up surveys with students aged 11 to 12 years. Results: Student accounts linked participation in planning or delivering intervention activities with improved self-regard and relationships with staff and other students. Some activities such as re-writing school rules involved broad participation. Students in receipt of actions such as peer-mediation or motivational sessions reported benefits such as improved safety and relationships. Some student accounts linked improved self-regard and relationships with increased engagement and aspirations, and reduced substance use. At 9-month follow-up, students in intervention schools reported less hurting and teasing of others and feeling unsafe at school. Other outcomes suggested intervention benefits but were not significant. Conclusions: School-ethos interventions may reduce substance use through upstream pathways involving the aforementioned factors. Future phase-III trials should quantitatively model the extent to which these mediate intervention effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Evaluations of 40 mass media programs/campaigns designed to influence cigarette smoking were reviewed. Information/motivation programs/campaigns generally produced changes in awareness, knowledge, and attitudes. Extensive national campaigns also produced meaningful behavioral change. Programs/ campaigns designed to promote some specific smoking-related action produced mixed results, depending in large part on the type of promotion involved. Mass media cessation clinics were found to be effective, with media plus social support being more effective than viewing plus printed material, and either combination being more effective than viewing alone. It was concluded that mass media health promotion programs can be more effective than many academics may have thought, but that the knowledge necessary to ensure such success is seriously lacking. Research studies, rather than simple evaluations, are needed to improve our knowledge base and build a science of mass media health promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review findings from 27 prospective studies of the onset of cigarette smoking conducted since 1980. Almost 300 measures of predictors of smoking onset were examined, and 74% of them provided multivariate support for predictors of onset derived from theory and previous empirical findings. Expected relationships were strongly supported for (a) socioeconomic status, with students with compromised status being more likely to try smoking; (b) social bonding variables, particularly peer and school bonding, with less support for family bonding; (c) social learning variables, especially peer smoking and approval, prevalence estimates, and offers/availability, with less consistent support for parent smoking and approval; (d) refusal skills self efficacy; (e) knowledge, attitudes and intentions, with the expected stronger predictions from intentions than from attitudes than from knowledge; and (f) broad indicators of self-esteem. The few investigators who analyzed their data separately by age, gender, or ethnicity found many differences by these factors, though there were too few of them to detect any pattern with confidence. Though the 27 studies are far from perfect, we believe that they confirm the importance of many well-accepted predictors and raise some questions about others. In particular, family smoking, bonding and approval each received unexpectedly low support. It is not clear whether this lack of support reflects reality as it has always been, is due to a changing reality, reflects developmental changes, either in the age of subjects or the stage of onset, or is due to poor measurement and too few tests. Future prospective studies need to be theory-driven, use measures of known reliability and validity, report analyses of scale properties, and use statistical methods appropriate to the hypotheses or theories under study. Finally, we encourage more investigations of the potentially different predictors of transitions to experimental or regular cigarette smokin [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking-related behaviors and attitudes of significant others (especially friends and parents) are among the most consistent predictors of adolescent smoking. However, theorists remain divided on whether the behaviors of significant others influence adolescent smoking directly or indirectly, and the relative influence of parental, and peer smoking on adolescents' own smoking is still a matter of debate. In addition, little research has examined the role of significant others' behavior on different stages of smoking onset. In particular, not much information is available regarding gender and ethnic differences in social influences on smoking behavior. We use structural equation modeling to address these issues. Different theoretical perspectives from cognitive-affective theories (Ajzen 1985; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) and social learning theories (Akers et al. 1979; Bandura 1969, 1982, 1986) have been integrated into a structural model of smoking influence. The results show that friends' smoking affects adolescent initiation into smoking both directly and indirectly, whereas parental smoking influences smoking initiation only indirectly. The data also show that friends' and parents' smoking affect smoking escalation only indirectly. In general, friends' smoking has a stronger effect on adolescents' smoking behavior, particularly on initiation. Multiple group comparisons of the structural models predicting smoking initiation among males and females reveal that parental approval of smoking plays a significant mediating role for females, but not for males. Comparisons of Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and other ethnic groups reveal that there are some significant differences in the pathways of friends' influences among the four groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the relative importance of parental and friends' influences on adolescents' smoking behavior and changes in the effects of social influences during adolescence. Data were collected at 4 times from 7th to 9th grades. Random-effects ordinal regression models were employed to predict the repeated classification of adolescent smoking status using time effects, prior smoking status, friends' smoking, and parental smoking. In general, the effects of friends' smoking are stronger than those of parental smoking, and these differences increase over time. In addition, friends' smoking has greater effects on nonsmokers than smokers. Separate models for males and females disclose some gender differences. In particular, the effects of friends' smoking are stronger for females than for males, and the increasing trend of friends' influences is more noticeable for females than for males. Models for 4 ethnic groups also suggest differential susceptibility to social influences in different cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. As smoking decreases in the population, the remaining smoking population will change, and cessation initiatives will have to incorporate strategies designed for these smokers. Methods. To study patterns of response to a cessation intervention composed of 20 televised segments and the American Lung Association Freedom from Smoking in 20 Days manual, this study compared cessation rates over 24 months in a cohort of smokers who registered for a cessation program with those in a cohort selected from the smoking population at large. Results. At post intervention, multiple point prevalence of cessation among participants, adjusted for baseline smoking, was 14% among registrants and 6% and 2%, respectively. Heavy smokers benefited more than light smokers, and there was a consistent dose-response relationship between extent of exposure to the intervention and cessation. Conclusion. The effects of the intervention were strongest for those who read the manual and watched the programs daily. Manual use was important, and those who did not read it did not appear to benefit. Compared to the population and given full participation, heavy smokers benefited more than lighter smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examined the effects of smoking policy on 4,807 adolescents in 23 schools over a two-county area in California. Amounts and prevalence rates of adolescent smoking were measured with a self-report survey and a biochemical measure; school smoking policy was measured with two independent surveys of school staff. Policy effects were evaluated with multiple and logistic regression analyses controlling for school-level socioeconomic status and environmental support for teaching and administration. Of the 23 schools, 100 percent had a formal written and regularly enforced policy component restricting student smoking on school grounds, 94 percent restricted students leaving school grounds, 65 percent restricted smoking near school grounds, and 57 percent had a smoking prevention education plan. Schools with policies having all four versus < four components, high versus low emphasis on prevention, and a low versus high emphasis on cessation reported lower amounts of smoking in the last week and in the last 24 hours. Punitive consequences of policy violation bad no effect. Results were compared to school staff observations of adolescent smoking, and school archival records of student smoking violations in the last year. Results suggest that school smoking policy is associated with decreased amounts of smoking in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, applied social researchers have shown an increased interest using focus groups as a method of generating ideas and solutions pertaining to various social problems. However, caution in the use of this methodology is warranted because focus groups may induce certain group effects which might bias responses. The present study investigated whether an extended focus group procedure resulted in a polarization of attitudes (a group influence bias effect) or a greater pool of ideas than those generated by its members at pretest (brainstorming, a favorable group effect). Southern California and Illinois high school students involved in a total of 31 focus groups were administered pretest and posttest questionnaires. These groups addressed the perceived utility of self-generated strategies designed to recruit adolescent tobacco users into a high school based tobacco use cessation clinic Support was obtained for a group polarization effect, which was replicated across grades, regions, tobacco use status, and specific strategy type. Specifically, after participating in a focus group, the students rated all self-generated cessation clinic recruitment strategies as being more likely to be successful. Moreover, they reported that it was more likely that these strategies would lead them to join a program themselves, if they were tobacco users. However, little support was obtained for the brainstorming effect. In the present context, focus groups do not appear to elicit reporting of new types of strategies but do instill more favorable attitudes regarding self-generated solutions to a problem. Practical implications of these data are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has indicated that adolescents who intend to smoke differ from those who do not intend to smoke in the imagery they associate with smoking. The present study examined relationships among self-image, ideal self-image, image of smokers in general and image of models in cigarette ads for seventh-grade students. The strongest finding was a positive correspondence of smokers image to self-image in predicting intention to smoke cigarettes. This correspondence between smokers image and self-image derived from a relative depression of self-image in combination with a relative elevation of smokers image for youth who were more likely to report intentions to smoke. There was also a trend for the ideal self-image of youth with greater intentions to smoke to be similarly depressed. It is suggested that when both self-concept and aspirations for self-improvement are diminished, smoking may seem particularly desirable as a means of enhancing identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tested three assumptions often made by smoking prevention researchers and practitioners regarding the nature and causes of smoking prevalence estimates. Specifically, it is often assumed that (a) adolescent prevalence estimates of all levels of smoking are inflated, (b) youths at different stages of smoking onset all overestimate smoking prevalence, and (c) the predictors of these estimates are the same for youths at different stages of smoking onset. Measures of smoking behavior based on self-reports using a bogus pipeline procedure, estimates of cigarette smoking prevalence (trying behavior and weekly use), and reports of smoking in significant others were obtained by the same youths when they were in eighth and ninth grades. Results indicated that, taken over all youths, estimates of trying cigarettes were accurate, whereas estimates of weekly use were inflated. When responders were defined by their stage of smoking onset, either as a nonsmoker, trier, or regular smoker, analyses revealed that triers were accurate regarding prevalence estimates of trying, whereas non-smokers made gross underestimations and regular smokers made overestimations of trying. All groups of youths overestimated prevalence of weekly smoking. Analyses of variance revealed that both youths' smoking status and interpersonal smoking environment additively predicted prevalence estimates, and estimates of smoking prevalence were relatively higher in youths who began to smoke, or increased their levels of smoking, within the next year. Thus, previous assumptions were partially confirmed. Future research and prevention programming should focus more on regular smoking as the focus of normative smoking distortion effects and correction efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the psychosocial factors that predict cigarette smoking onset in young people is of crucial importance for prevention efforts. The present study examined prospective psychosocial predictors of smoking in a three-wave longitudinal data set. Similar in design to an earlier study by Chassin, Presson, Sherman, Corty, and Olshavsky (1984), the present study replicated their work, and extended it by (a) using composite predictors derived from exploratory factor analysis, (b) including prior behavior as a predictor, (c) using a design extended over three waves of data collection, and (d) using a sample composed primarily of urban teenagers. Subjects were 3295 7th-grade students at the beginning of the study. The subjects completed a questionnaire containing items tapping cigarette smoking behavior and psychosocial items that have previously been shown to predict smoking behavior. Forty-one psychosocial items on the Wave I (initial) questionnaire were factor analyzed, and five factors were retained. Subscale scores were constructed based on these factors and were used as predictors. Regression analyses were performed using the subscales and pretest smoking frequency to predict a continuous measure of smoking, and discriminant analyses were performed to predict transitions between qualitative levels of smoking. Prior smoking behavior was the most important predictor of future smoking. Four of the subscales, Social Disapproval, Risk Taking/Rebelliousness, Perceived Smoking Prevalence, and Motivation to Comply, were significant predictors. One subscale, Physical Consequences from Smoking, was not predictive of smoking in any of the analyses. The effect sizes cross-validated well. It is suggested that an integrative model of smoking initiation developed by Flay, d'Avernas, Best, Kersell, and Ryan (1983) best summarizes the results of the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixth-grade children in 22 schools received either a social-influences smoking- prevention program or routine health education. The social-influences program was designed to teach youth about peer, parent, and media influences affecting smoking onset and to provide them with skills m resisting these influences. Comparison schools were given no program, but were permitted to continue their usual provision of health education. Program impact was evaluated as a function of pretreatment risk of future smoking. Risk was defined with respect to both (a) the prevalence of social models who smoked and (b) previous smoking experience. Two-and-a-half-year results show program impact to vary with both kinds of risk. Smoking-experience risk interacted such that, at first, there was greater impact on children with experience, but on later follow-up the pattern reversed, with the greater treatment effects seen for those initially with limited experience. Social-models risk showed a direct relationship, with greater risk being associated with greater program impact. Implications both for evaluation research and prevention programs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on an evaluation of the effectiveness of classroom and mass media for the delivery of a psychosocial smoking prevention program and an accompanying smoking cessation program. It evaluates: the acceptance of the program by teachers, students and parents; program implementation level and quality; and program effectiveness. The program consisted of four distinct components: television prevention segments, a classroom curriculum, a home booklet and television cessation segments. The results of the article suggest that school-based and television social influences prevention programming are moderately acceptable to schools and very acceptable to students and parents.

Most school-based smoking prevention studies employ designs in which schools or classrooms are assigned to different treatment conditions while observations are made on individual students. This design requires that the treatment effect be assessed against the between-school variance. However, the between-school variance is usually larger than the variance that would be obtained if students were individually randomized to different conditions. Consequently, the power of the test for a treatment effect is reduced, and it becomes difficult to detect important treatment effects. To assess the potential loss of power or to calculate appropriate sample sizes, investigators need good estimates of the intraclass correlations for the variables of interest. The authors calculated intraclass correlations for some common outcome variables in a school-based smoking prevention study, using a three-level model—i.e., students nested within classrooms and classrooms nested within schools. The authors present the intraclass correlation estimates for the entire data set, as well as separately by sex and ethnicity. They also illustrate the use of these estimates in the planning of future studies. Am J Epidemiol 1996; 144: 425–33. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addressed the influence of risk for future smoking on compliance-resisting strategies for adolescents from two Southern California schools. Participants were asked to indicate how they would respond to eight hypothetical situations varying in relationship, number of people present and the amount of pressure. Communication researchers have focused more attention on compliance-gaining than compliance-resisting. While the two differ in terms of goals, certain similarities exist. Both involve persuasion and encourage others to do or accept something they might not do or accept otherwise. Compliance-gaining research has advanced beyond compliance-resisting research as evidenced controversy exists, however, over the best methods for the study of compliance-gaining. Recognition of the social nature of smoking has led to the development of a number of school-based interventions focusing on skills for resisting social pressure. The interventions are based on the presumption that young adolescents smoke primarily as a result of social pressures to smoke, especially for peers. The absence of a clear understanding of what adolescents are likely to say when resisting pressure to smoke and how relationship and situational factors influence their strategy choices weakens their ability to train adolescents adequately in resistance skills.

Abstract: Background: The present study compared the predictive and incremental validity of four commonly used dependence measures (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV [DSM-IV] nicotine dependence criteria, Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence [FTND], Hooked On Nicotine Checklist [HONC], Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale [NDSS]) in a first year college sample reporting light smoking patterns. Methods: Nicotine dependence measures were administered at the end of the first semester and follow-up smoking behavior (i.e. continued smoking, quantity, frequency, and length of abstinence) was assessed at the end of the first and second academic years. Results: Higher levels of dependence as measured by the HONC and DSM-IV predicted smoking behavior at both follow-up assessments. While higher scores on some of the NDSS factors predicted heavier smoking behavior during follow-up assessments, higher scores on other NDSS factors predicted lighter smoking behavior. The DSM-IV, NDSS-priority, and HONC measures provided some evidence for incremental validity. Higher dependence scores on all four measures were related to shorter lengths of smoking abstinence. Conclusions: The four dependence measures were differentially related to smoking behavior outcomes in a light smoking sample. These findings suggest that nicotine dependence can predict a variety of smoking behaviors in light smokers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]