| dc.description.abstract | Young adult social smokers smoke almost exclusively while drinking, and are more likely to smoke solely in social environments, such as bars or clubs, than daily smokers. While previous research has found a link between tobacco use and alcohol consumption in social smokers, little research has examined social smokers and their intentions to smoke and drink in a bar and club setting. This study examined smoker identity and how the bar or club environment influences social smokers to smoke, and how perceptions of smoking change in social settings in a young adult sample (n = 288). Young adults were designated into smoker, social smoker, or non-smoker categories based on how they self-identified as a smoker, and were approached outside bars and clubs to answer a series of questions addressing their attitudes and behaviors towards smoking and drinking. It was found that social smokers and non-smokers are rarely the only people smoking in the social group that they are with, and that they typically wait for someone else in their group to smoke before they have their first cigarette or little cigar. It was also found that cigarettes were used to increase the effect of the alcohol. The bar or club environment was shown to facilitate smoking and drinking in social smokers, and it is important to create interventions that help break the connection between smoking and drinking. It is also important to address tobacco policy changes that could help prevent smoking in bars and clubs. | en_US |
