Assessing teen smoking patterns: The weekend phenomenon

Background: Adolescent cigarette smokers may have more daily variability in their smoking patterns than adults. A better understanding of teen smoking patterns can inform the development of more effective adolescent smoking cessation interventions. Methods: Teen smokers seeking cessation treatment (N = 366) reported the number of cigarettes smoked on each day of a typical week. A paired t-test was used to examine differences between weekday (Sunday-Thursday) and weekend (Friday-Saturday) smoking. Main effects and interactions for race/ethnicity and gender were assessed using a 2-way ANOVA for the following variables: typical weekly smoking, average weekday smoking, average weekend smoking, and difference between weekday and weekend smoking. Scheffé post hoc tests were used to analyze any statistically significant differences. Results: There was significantly more weekend smoking compared to weekday smoking, p< 0.001. The difference in weekday versus weekend smoking levels was larger for females than for males, p< 0.05. Hispanics reported less typical weekly smoking, p< 0.001, less weekday smoking, p< 0.001, and less weekend day smoking, p< 0.01, compared to Caucasians and multi-racial teens. There was no difference in weekend day versus weekday smoking by race/ethnic background. Conclusions: Using a more detailed assessment of smoking quantity captures patterns of adolescent smoking that may lead to more effective smoking cessation interventions.