To provide initial tests of internal consistency reliability and both structural and concurrent validity of a smoker identity (SI) scale for college student populations.
Design.
Cross-sectional design.
Setting.
Midsouth university.
Participants.
Undergraduates in a random sample of university classes completed surveys (92.3% response rate).
Method.
SI items derived from a literature review and clinical expertise, lifetime and current tobacco use, cigarette purchasing patterns, and quitting variables.
Analysis.
Current (some days or every day) cigarette users (n = 362) were divided into daily, intermittent, and experimental smoker groups. After principal components analysis was conducted on the SI items, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess SI differentiation of smoker groups, and correlational analysis or ANOVA was used to assess SI relationships with smoking and quitting variables.
Results.
Eight SI items produced a high–internal-consistency, single-factor structure (α = .93) and clearly differentiated the three smoker groups. Higher SI scores indicated greater smoking rate, smoking within 30 minutes of awakening, larger purchased quantities, and both greater interest and lower confidence in quitting.
Conclusions.
The scale demonstrated good reliability and validity. Other SI measures exist, but this is the first scale to establish utility with experimental and intermittent smokers—substantial groups among college students. The extent to which cigarette users identify as smokers may provide useful information beyond behavioral measures, especially among college students.
ConnerMArmitageCJ. Extending the theory of planned behavior: A review and avenues for future research. J Appl Soc Psychol. 1998;28:1429–1464.
2.
MunroGAdamsGR. Ego-identity formation in college students and working youth. Dev Psychol. 1977;13:523–524.
3.
BiddleBJBankBJAndersonDS. Social influence, self-referent identity labels, and behavior. Sociol Q.1985;26:159–185.
4.
BanajaiMRPrenticeDA. The self in social contexts. Annu Rev Psychol. 1994;45:297–332.
5.
RiseJSheeranPHukkelbergS. The role of self-identity in the theory of planned behavior: A meta-analysis. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2010;40:1085–1105.
6.
FalomirJMInvernizziF. The role of social influence and smoker identity in resistance to smoking cessation. Swiss J Psychol. 1999;58:73–84.
7.
GranbergDHolmbergS. The intention-behavior relationship among U.S. and Swedish voters. Soc Psychol Q.1990;53:44–54.
8.
CalleroPLHowardJAPiliavinJA. Helping behavior as role behavior: Disclosing social structure and history in the analysis of prosocial action. Soc Psychol Q.1987;50:247–256.
9.
FalomirJMTomeiA. A social influence contribution to the understanding of smoking cessation: Smoker identity and influence relationships. In: ButeraFMugnyG, eds. Social Influence in Social Reality: Promoting Individual and Social Change. Ashland, Ohio: Hogrefe & Huber; 2001:125–142.
10.
LevinsonAHCampoSGascoigneJ. Smoking, but not smokers: Identity among college students who smoke cigarettes. Nicotine Tob Res.2007;9:845–852.
11.
FreemanMAHennessyEVMarzulloDM. Defensive evaluation of antismoking messages among college-age smokers: The role of possible selves. Health Psychol. 2001;20:424–433.
12.
VangeliEStapletonJWestR. Residual attraction to smoking and smoker identity following smoking cessation. Nicotine Tob Res.2010;12:865–869.
13.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. Rockville, Md: Office of Applied Studies; 2009.
14.
ThompsonBCoronadoGChenL. Prevalence and characteristics of smokers at 30 Pacific Northwest colleges and universities. Nicotine Tob Res.2007;9:429–438.
15.
KenfordSLWetterDWWelschSK. Progression of college cigarette samplers: What influences outcome. Addict Behav.2005;30:285–294.
16.
SchaneREGlantzSALingPM. Nondaily and social smoking: An increasingly prevalent pattern. Arch Intern Med.2009;169:1742–1744.
17.
SchaneREGlantzSALingPM. Social smoking: Implications for public health, clinical practice, and intervention research. Am J Prev Med.2009;37(2):124–131.
18.
BergCJLustKASanemJA. Smoker self-identification versus recent smoking in college students. Am J Prev Med.2009;36:333–336.
19.
RidnerSLWalkerKLHartJLMyersJA. Smoking identities and behavior: Evidence for discrepancies, issues for measurement and intervention. West J Nurs Res.2010;32:434–446.
20.
ChoiYChoiSMRifonN. “I smoke but I am not a smoker”: Phantom smokers and the discrepancy between self-identity and behavior. J Am Coll Health. 2010;59:117–125.
21.
BergCJParelkarPPLessardL. Defining “smoker”: College student attitudes and related smoking characteristics. Nicotine Tob Res.2010;12:963–969.
22.
MoanISRiseJ. Predicting smoking reduction among adolescents using an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour. Psychol Health. 2006;21:717–738.
23.
MoanISRiseJAndersenM. Predicting parents' intentions not to smoke indoors in the presence of their children using an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour. Psychol Health. 2005;20:353–371.
24.
LipkusIMMcBrideCMPollakKI. A randomized trial comparing the effects of self-help materials and proactive telephone counseling on teen smoking cessation. Health Psychol. 2004;23:397–406.
25.
ShadelWGMermelsteinR. Individual differences in self-concept among smokers attempting to quit: Validation and predictive utility of measures of the smoker self-concept and abstainer self-concept. Ann Behav Med.1996;18:151–155.
26.
HøieMMoanISRiseJ. An extended version of the theory of planned behavior: Prediction of intentions to quit smoking using past behavior as a moderator. Addict Res Theory. 2010;18:572–585.
27.
LipkusIMPollakKIMcBrideCM. Assessing attitudinal ambivalence towards smoking and its association with desire to quit among teen smokers. Psychol Health. 2005;20:373–387.
28.
MoanISRiseJ. Quitting smoking: Applying an extended version of the theory of planned behavior to predict intention and behavior. J Appl Biobehav Res.2005;10:39–68.
29.
ShadelWGMermelsteinRBorrelliB. Self-concept changes over time in cognitive-behavioral treatment for smoking cessation. Addict Behav.1996;21:659–663.
30.
van den PutteBYzerMWillemsenMCde BruijnG. The effects of smoking: Self-identity and quitting self-identity on attempts to quit smoking. Health Psychol. 2009;28:535–544.
31.
AndrewsJAHampsonSBarckleyM. The effect of subjective normative social images of smokers on children's intentions to smoke. Nicotine Tob Res.2008;10:589–597.
32.
BartonJChassinLPressonCCShermanSJ. Social image factors as motivators of smoking initiation in early and middle adolescence. Child Dev.1982;53:1499–1511.
33.
GibbonsFXGerrardM. Predicting young adults' health risk behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1995;69:505–517.
34.
Falomir-PichastorJMMugnyGInvernizziF. Does the campaign against tobacco use necessarily reduce the attractions of smoking for young people? Identity issues surrounding initiation into tobacco consumption. Eur Int Rev Appl Psychol. 2007;57:257–265.
35.
Falomir-PichastorJMInvernizziFMugnyG. Social influence on intention to quit smoking: The effect of the rhetoric of an identity relevant message. Int Rev Soc Psychol. 2002;15:81–96.
36.
InvernizziFFalomir-PichastorJMMunoz-RojasDMugnyG. Social influence in personally relevant contexts: The respect attributed to the source as a factor increasing smokers' intention to quit smoking. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2003;33:1818–1836.
37.
MaggiSLinnGMarionSA. Are questions from the Italian national health survey adequate to measure prevalence of smoking among teens. Subst Use Misuse. 2005;40:779–788.
38.
NortonTRLazevABSchnollRAMillerSM. The impact of email recruitment on our understanding of college smoking. Addict Behav.2009;34:531–535.
39.
OgdenJNicollM. Risk and protective factors: An integration of the epidemiological and psychological approaches to adolescent smoking. Addict Res.1997;5:367–378.
40.
OkoliCTCRichardsonCGRatnerPAJohnsonJL. An examination of the smoking identities and taxonomies of smoking behavior in youth. Tob Control. 2008;17:151–158.
FaganPAugustsonEBackingerCL. Quit attempts and intention to quit cigarette smoking among young adults in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2007;97:1412–1420.
43.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Methodology of the youth risk behavior surveillance system. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.2004;53(RR-12):1–13.
44.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital signs: Current cigarette smoking among adults aged ≥ 18 years—United States. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.2010;59:1135–1140.
45.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth risk behavior surveillance: National college health risk behavior survey—United States, 1995. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.1997;46(SS-6):1–54.
46.
BrenerNDCollinsJLKannL. Reliability of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire. Am J Epidemiol. 1995;141:575–580.
47.
BrenerNDKannLMcManusT. Reliability of the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire. J Adolesc Health. 2002;31:336–342.
48.
NelsonDEHoltzmanDBolenJ. Reliability and validity of measures from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Soz Praventivmed. 2001;46(suppl 1):S03–S42.
49.
KozlowskiLTPorterCQOrleansCT. Predicting smoking cessation with self-reported measures of nicotine dependence: FTQ, FTND, and HSI. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1994;34:211–216.
50.
HeathertonTFKozlowskiLTFreckerRCFagerströmKO. The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence: A revision of the Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire. Br J Addict.1991;86:1119–1127.
51.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adult tobacco survey—19 states, 2003–2007. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.2010;59(SS03):1–74.
52.
GwaltneyCJMetrikJKahlerCWShiffmanS. Self-efficacy and smoking cessation: A meta-analysis. Psychol Addict Behav.2009;23:56–66.
