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. 2007 Dec;45(6):442-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.07.016. Epub 2007 Jul 19.

Longitudinal patterns of youth access to cigarettes and smoking progression: Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort (MACC) study (2000-2003)

Rachel Widome  1 , Jean L Forster, Peter J Hannan, Cheryl L Perry
Affiliations

Longitudinal patterns of youth access to cigarettes and smoking progression: Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort (MACC) study (2000-2003)

Rachel Widome et al. Prev Med. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: To measure community-level changes in the methods youth use to obtain cigarettes over time and to relate these methods to the progression of smoking.

Methods: We analyzed 2000-2003 data from the Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort study, where youth (beginning at age 12), who were living in Minnesota at baseline, were surveyed every 6 months via telephone. We conducted mixed model repeated measures logistic regression to obtain probabilities of cigarette access methods among past 30-day smokers (n=340 at baseline).

Results: The probability of obtaining cigarettes from a commercial source in the past month declined from 0.36 at baseline to 0.22 at the sixth survey point while the probability of obtaining cigarettes from a social source during the previous month increased from 0.54 to 0.76 (p for both trends=0.0001). At the community level, the likelihood of adolescents obtaining cigarettes from social sources was inversely related to the likelihood of progressing to heavy smoking (p<0.001).

Conclusions: During this time, youth shifted to greater reliance on social sources and less on commercial sources. A trend toward less commercial access to cigarettes accompanied by an increase in social access may translate to youth being less likely to progress to heavier smoking.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Access methods by survey among past month smokers. Adjusted for survey time, age, ethnicity, smoking status, and sex. n = 2371 observations. Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort, 2000 – 2003.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Among youth who had smoked at least once in the past month, probability of being a weekly or more frequent smoker over time by access method, adjusted for age, sex, and ethnicity. 2371 observations used. Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort, 2000-2003.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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