Table 1

 Demographic and other characteristic profile of young adult (18–29 years) social smokers compared to other non-daily smokers and daily smokers (n = 2233 current smokers)

CharacteristicSocial smokers %§ (95% CI) n = 525Other non-daily smokers % (95%CI) n = 682Daily smokers % (95%CI) n = 1026
§Unweighted sample size and weighted percentages.
***p<0.001, *p<0.05 for χ2 comparing all three groups.
†††p<0.001, †p<0.05 for χ2 compared only social versus other non-daily smokers.
CI, confidence interval.
Sex
    Female95236.2 (4.4)35.4 (3.7)33.0 (2.9)
    Male128163.8 (4.4)64.6 (3.7)67.1 (2.9)
Age (years)
    18–2187837.1 (4.6)38.8 (4.2)37.0 (3.3)
    22–2578936.8 (4.2)36.0 (4.9)36.2 (3.2)
    26–2956626.1 (4.1)25.2 (3.7)26.8 (3.1)
Race/ethnicity***
    Non-Hispanic white116434.6 (3.8)37.4 (3.9)52.9 (3.1)
    Hispanic64745.7 (4.8)45.7 (4.0)24.9 (3.6)
    African American1013.8 (1.8)4.4 (1.6)5.4 (1.7)
    Asian/Pacific Islander21611.0 (3.2)9.5 (3.2)11.3 (2.1)
    Other
Education*** †
    No college111040.9 (5.7)49.6 (4.4)61.2 (3.2)
    Some college, not current student2558.0 (2.9)9.1 (2.1)11.9 (2.4)
    Part time current student1527.0 (2.6)6.9 (1.8)6.4 (1.5)
    Full time current student38922.0 (4.6)17.7 (3.2)11.5 (2.5)
    College graduate32722.1 (3.9)16.8 (2.8)8.9 (1.8)
Marital status*
    Single146168.8 (5.3)68.9 (4.8)62.3 (3.6)
    Partnered28411.7 (3.5)9.9 (2.5)14.7 (3.0)
    Divorced/widowed/separated1174.8 (2.2)4.0 (1.7)5.2 (1.5)
    Married37114.7 (3.5)17.3 (3.5)17.7 (2.9)
Smoking in social environment
Relatives***
    None smoke46028.4 (5.2)24.0 (3.3)15.9 (2.7)
    Most do not smoke114951.5 (5.7)57.6 (4.6)44.3 (3.7)
    Most or all smoke62420.2 (3.9)18.4 (3.4)39.9 (3.5)
Friends***
    Practically none smoke1267.1 (2.5)11.1 (9.3)2.1 (5.6)
    Most do not smoke106955.1 (5.0)53.9 (2.8)39.8 (3.2)
    Most or all smoke103837.8 (5.3)35.1 (3.1)58.0 (3.5)
Smoking behaviour, attitudes
Cigarettes/month (mean)*** †††223323.3 (5.0)55.1 (8.6)387.5 (18.3)
Status†††1207
    Experimenter56955.6 (4.2)40.3 (5.4)
    Never daily33526.6 (4.1)32.0 (4.9)
    Once daily30317.8 (3.1)27.8 (4.3)
Never a regular smoker†††120747.0 (4.0)30.6 (4.3)
Buys own cigarettes*** †††223326.0 (4.2)62.0 (4.9)94.6 (1.8)
Smokes mostly on weekends*** †††223353.2 (4.7)30.4 (4.8)4.9 (1.4)
Could quit anytime I wanted*** †††223384.7 (3.7)71.5 (3.8)40.3 (3.8)
Am addicted to cigarettes*** †††223310.0 (2.6)20.5 (3.8)77.8 (4.0)
Smoking harming my health*** †††223341.2 (4.0)54.7 (5.3)96.1 (1.3)