Psychological profile of college students who use smokeless tobacco.

Overview

The purpose of this study was to develop a psychological profile of smokeless tobacco users. We surveyed 1991 college students regarding their use of tobacco products. Twenty-one percent of the white males used smokeless tobacco compared to only 10.4% of blacks, 5.4% of Hispanics, and 5.4% of others, primarily Asians. Although the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use reported by Asians was relatively low, their rate of reported smoking was over twice as high as any other ethnic group, 43.6%. The most important reasons for beginning to use smokeless tobacco were to "see if I would enjoy it," "most friends used it," and "try something new." The personality profile of the smokeless tobacco users differed from that of smokers and non-users of tobacco. College students with the highest probability of being a smokeless tobacco user were white males who scored higher in extraversion and neuroticism but lower on state anxiety than non-users.