Tobacco Abstinence Motives in Young Adult College Students

Objectives: Our objective was to develop a scale to assess motives for abstaining from tobacco use among young adults. Methods: We analyzed 2016 survey data from 2094 US college students (ages 18-25) who reported no past-4-month tobacco use. We developed a 10-item scale and examined its reliability and validity, specifically in relationship to future use intentions; perceived addictiveness, health risks, and social acceptability of tobacco use; and tobacco product use at 4-month follow-up. Results: Factor analysis identified 2 factors: Social Concerns and Instrumental Concerns. Bivariate analyses regarding convergent and discriminant validity indicated that both subscales were associated with lower future tobacco use intentions; greater perceived addictiveness and harm to health; and lower likelihood of follow-up use across products (p s Conclusions: This scale demonstrated good psychometric properties and identi- fied social and instrumental concerns as potential intervention targets to promote young adult abstinence

Abstinence · Discriminant validity · Logistic regression · Psychiatry · Psychometrics · Psychosocial · Scale (ratio · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Psychology · Smoking Behavior and Cessation