Is the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Screening Guide Useful for Identifying Adolescents at Risk for Later Cigarette Smoking? A Prospective Study in Primary Care Clinics.

OBJECTIVES: This paper evaluated whether a 2-item assessment of alcohol use risk, developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA SG), prospectively predicted smoking status among a sample of adolescents visiting their primary care physician.
METHODS: We analyzed a sample of 651 adolescents (57.80% female; 56.53% Hispanic, 22.73% African American, 14.44% White, 6.30% other) who completed the NIAAA SG at a baseline appointment and were assessed for future smoking risk. We obtained prospective data on smoking status using data from the 6-month post-baseline follow-up assessment.
RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescents who were identified as at risk by the NIAAA SG were more likely to report smoking within 6 months. However, the association between the NIAAA SG and future smoking status became non-significant after controlling for future smoking risk measured at baseline.
CONCLUSIONS: Questions that ask about past smoking and future smoking intentions are best used to screen adolescents in primary care for smoking risk.