BIOBEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF ADOLESCENT NICOTINE DEPENDENCE

青少年吸烟率继续攀升，1997年的估计数字是自1979年以来最高的。青少年吸烟与成年后尼古丁依赖之间的关系已经得到了很好的证实。虽然吸烟对成人的生物学影响已经研究过，但对青少年的生物行为方面的影响还没有研究过。此外，已报道的青少年吸烟的性别差异涉及社会行为因素，对生物学数据的重视有限，而生物学数据对理解青少年尼古丁依赖至关重要。识别青少年尼古丁依赖的生物标志物对青少年吸烟者的健康至关重要。这项单因素因子设计研究的首要目的是表征青少年吸烟者的烟雾成分暴露和吸烟地形参数的生物标志物。暴露在烟雾中的成分包括一氧化碳和血浆尼古丁会增加吸后和基线可替宁水平。吸烟地形参数包括吞吐量和持续时间、吞吐间隔、吸入和呼出持续时间。在第二个目标中，吸烟地形参数、烟雾成分暴露和尼古丁依赖水平将在青少年男女吸烟者之间进行比较。第三个目的是比较青春期前和后期青少年的吸烟成分暴露、吸烟地形参数和尼古丁依赖水平。最终目的是将烟雾成分暴露的生物学标记与尼古丁依赖的公认行为测量进行对比。描述青春期男孩和女孩吸烟的生物学和行为方面的特征将为解决这一重要研究领域的差距提供基础。这项拟议的研究代表了一个研究项目的第一阶段，该项目包括分析不同种族青少年吸烟行为的差异，并为根据性别和年龄组设计量身定制的吸烟预防和戒烟干预提供科学依据。

Adolescent smoking prevalence has continued to climb with 1997 estimates being the highest reported since 1979. The relationship between adolescent smoking and subsequent nicotine dependence in adulthood has been well established. While biological effects of smoking have been studied in adults, the biobehavioral aspects have not been examined in adolescents. In addition gender differences in smoking that have been reported for adolescents address sociobehavioral factors with limited emphasis on biological data which is essential for understanding adolescent nicotine dependence. The need to identify biomarkers of adolescent nicotine dependence is essential to the health of adolescent smokers. The first aim of this one-factor factorial design study is to characterize the biomarkers of smoke constituent exposure and smoking topography parameters in adolescent smokers. Smoke constituent exposure includes carbon monoxide and plasma nicotine increases post-cigarette and baseline cotinine levels. Smoking topography parameters include puff volume and duration, interpuff interval, and inhalation and exhalation duration. In the second aim smoking topography parameters, smoke constituent exposure, and level of nicotine dependence will be compared between adolescent male and female smokers. The third aim will compare smoke constituent exposure, smoking topography parameters and level of nicotine dependence of prepubescent and later teens. The final aim will contrast biological markers of smoke constituent exposure with accepted behavioral measures of nicotine dependence. Characterizing biological and behavioral aspects of smoking in adolescent boys and girls will provide a foundation to address the gap in this important research area. The proposed study represents the first phase of a program of research that includes analyzing differences in smoking behavior of adolescents from multiple ethnic groups, as well as increasing the scientific basis from which to design tailored smoking prevention and cessation interventions by gender and age group.