A Smoker Identity Measure for Experimental, Intermittent, and Daily College Student Smokers

Purpose. 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.