Abstract
Initial smoking experience is a potential predictor of later smoking. Our study has a twofold aim: (1) to provide further support for construct validity of retrospective measurement of an early smoking experience questionnaire (ESE) in a representative sample of adolescents; and (2) to examine the association of initial smoking experience with sensation-seeking, current smoking and nicotine dependence. Participants were ninth-grade high-school students who had tried smoking, even if only a puff. Data from 1599 students (62% of the total sample) were analyzed, including tobacco use history, symptoms of early smoking experience (ESE), and sensation-seeking. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factorial structure of ESE including pleasant and unpleasant experiences. A CFA analysis with covariates revealed that sensation-seeking, age and gender are significantly associated with pleasant experience, whereas gender is associated significantly only with unpleasant experience. A multinomial regression analysis revealed that pleasant experience positively and unpleasant experience negatively predicts intermittent and regular smoking compared with experimenters. Both pleasant and unpleasant experiences predict the nicotine dependence among intermittent and daily smokers. Our study supports the construct validity of the early smoking experience questionnaire in a large sample of adolescents.