Nondaily tobacco use among Black and White college undergraduates: A comparison of nondaily versus daily tobacco users

Little is known about how the characteristics of college undergraduate nondaily tobacco users compare to daily tobacco users. We conducted a survey to compare the sociodemographic, tobacco use, psychological, and alcohol-related factors between nondaily versus daily tobacco users in a sample of Black and White college undergraduates aged 18-24 years (N = 1623). Of this sample, 301 (18.5%) participants reported using tobacco in the previous 30 days. Of the participants reporting tobacco use in the past 30 days, 50 (16.6%) participants reported nondaily use and 21 (7.0%) participants reported daily use. Findings revealed that nondaily tobacco users were more likely than daily tobacco users to deny that use of tobacco has had a detrimental impact on their health (p 0.001). Additionally, nondaily cigarette smokers reported a lower level of dependence than daily smokers (p 0.001). White racial status and daily tobacco use was associated with cigarette smoking (p 0.05), while Black racial status and nondaily tobacco use was associated with cigar smoking (p 0.05). Use of more than one type of tobacco product was associated with White racial status (p 0.05) and male gender (p 0.001). Our findings expand what is known about undergraduate nondaily tobacco users and provides valuable data for designing interventions for these individuals.