Associations between Parental, Peer, and Sibling Tobacco Use and Current Cigarette Use Among College Students

Introduction: Peer, parental, and sibling tobacco use have been shown to be important risk factors for adolescent smoking. However, social influences are not as clearly risk factors for young adult smoking. The purpose of this study was to compare the magnitude of risk between parental, peer, and sibling tobacco use on current cigarette use among college students.

Methods: Participants were 3,988 students (64% female; 36% white; mean age=22) from 24 2-year and 4-year colleges in the southwestern United States who completed survey waves 4 (spring of 2016) and 5 (fall of 2016) of the Marketing and Promotions Across Colleges in Texas project (M-PACT). Current cigarette use (yes/no) was assessed with a single question at wave 5. Parental tobacco use was assessed with multiple questions pertaining to household tobacco use (e.g. “When you were growing up, did any of the following people in your household use tobacco products?”) at wave 4. Responses of either “father/male guardian” or “mother/female guardian” were coded as 1 and students who reported neither were given 0. Peer cigarette use was assessed with a single question at wave 4, “How many of your close friends smoke cigarettes?” responses were dichotomized as “None” = 0 and at least one peer was coded as 1. Sibling cigarette use was asked of students who indicated they had siblings with a single question at wave 4, “Do any of your brothers and/or sisters: Smoke cigarettes?” responses were dichotomized with “Yes” or “I don’t know” as 1 and “No” = 0, students who do not have siblings were also given a 0. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression was used, controlling for current cigarette use at wave 4, depressive symptoms, impulsivity, sensation seeking, age, gender, race, and with school as the random effect.

Results: About 16% of students reported current use of cigarettes at wave 5, 38% reported at least one parent used tobacco in their household growing up, 62% reported at least one friend who currently use cigarettes, and 19% had at least one sibling who use cigarettes at wave 4. There was a positive association between peer (OR=2.91, CI 2.11-4.01) and sibling (OR=1.32, CI 1.01-1.73) cigarette use and current cigarette use 6 months later while parental household use was not significant. Peer cigarette use was more strongly associated with current use of cigarettes than sibling use.

Conclusion: Findings indicate peer and sibling cigarette use remain risk factors for smoking among young adult college students. While peer cigarette use present a greater risk than sibling use, interventions targeting college student smoking should include components to counter influences from both peers and siblings.