Smoking and preference for brand of cigarette among adolescents

Investigated the association between having a cigarette brand preference (CBP) and cigarette use in a sample of 1,997 African Americans, 2,168 Mexican Americans, and 2,867 White 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students. Data came from the 2nd yr of the Youth Evaluation Study, a 3-yr prospective multicohort study of adolescent drug use initiation and sequencing across gender and racial/ethnic factors. Questionnaire data showed that: (1) the prevalence of having a CBP increased with grade level, with over 20% of 11th graders having a CBP; (2) CBP was related to cigarette use in a dose-response fashion for all subgroups, with CBP highest among African Americans students who smoked at least half a pack a day; (3) there was a strong association between having a CBP and current daily cigarette use; and (4) CBP was related to intention to smoke cigarettes when older. These findings suggest CBP may play an important role in cigarette use acquisition and maintenance among adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)