Childhood Predictors and Consequences of Adult Smoking

描述（由申请人提供）：本纵向研究的总体目标是检查成人烟草使用和依赖的病因决定因素以及使用对个人功能的影响。1975年的原始样本包括960名母亲，她们的孩子平均年龄为5岁（T1）。随后，在儿童的平均年龄为13岁（T2）、15岁（T3）和21岁（T4）时，对儿童及其母亲进行了访谈。在T5，只有年轻人（平均年龄26岁）接受了采访。第六次数据收集（T6），当参与者平均年龄为33岁时，建议完成以下任务：(1)检查人格、家庭、同伴和生态因素（从儿童早期开始）的相互关系和相互作用，因为它们影响烟草使用和依赖的过程（即稳定性和变化）；(2)研究长期烟草使用/依赖对成人内部和人际功能的影响。与过去一样，对成年人的单独访谈将由训练有素的采访者在他们自己的家中进行。具有足够的心理测量特性的量表将从面试时间表中开发出来。主要的分析技术将是因果分析和/或层次或逻辑回归。本研究的意义在于其纵向设计，在几个关键的发展阶段提供深入的内部和人际数据。这些数据不仅使我们能够从一开始就检查烟草使用和依赖的途径，而且还可以研究烟草使用随着时间的推移的过程，即与受试者在数年内更多（或更少）参与烟草使用/滥用相关的因素。我们还可以研究与戒烟有关的因素。这些知识将有助于查明那些有增加烟草使用/依赖风险的青少年/青壮年/成年人，并将为预防和治疗提供详细和具体的指导方针。我们对烟草使用后果的纵向研究是独一无二的，因为可以评估烟草使用的长期影响，看看它们的影响是否具有累积性。确定能够减轻或补偿烟草使用对后期功能的影响的儿童和青少年因素将为有效的预防和治疗工作提供额外的帮助。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goals of this longitudinal study are to examine the etiologic determinants of adult tobacco use and dependence and the consequences of use on the individual's functioning. The original sample in 1975 consisted of 960 mothers whose children's average age was 5 (T1). Subsequently, children and their mothers were interviewed when the children's average age was 13 (T2), 15 (T3), and 21 (T4). At T5, only the young adults (average age 26) were interviewed. A sixth data collection (T6), when the participants are an average age of 33 years old, is proposed to accomplish the following: (1) to examine interrelations and interactions of personality, family, peer, and ecological factors (starting in early childhood) as they affect the course of tobacco use and dependence over time (i.e., stability, and change); and (2) to study the consequences of long-term tobacco use/dependence on adult intra- and interpersonal functioning. As in the past, separate interviews with adults will be conducted in their own homes by trained interviewers. Scales with adequate psychometric properties measuring the independent variables will be developed from the interview schedules. The primary analytic techniques will be causal analysis and/or hierarchical or logistic regression. The significance of this study lies in its longitudinal design with in-depth intra- and interpersonal data available at several crucial stages of development. These data allow us not only to examine the pathways to tobacco use and dependence from the very beginning but also to study the course of tobacco use over time, i.e., the factors related to the subject's becoming more (or less) involved in tobacco use/abuse over a span of years. We can also examine the factors related to cessation of smoking. Such knowledge will help pinpoint those adolescents/young adults/adults at risk for increased tobacco use/dependence and will provide detailed and specific guidelines for prevention and treatment. Our longitudinal study of the consequences of tobacco use is unique in that the long-term effects of use can be evaluated to see if their impact is cumulative. Identification of childhood and adolescent factors that can lessen or compensate for the impact of tobacco use on later functioning would provide additional aids for effective prevention and treatment efforts.