Objective: Multiple levels of influence interplay to impact youth tobacco use. We work towards understanding important policy and environmental strategies that are associated with youth tobacco use behaviors.
Methods: We utilized data from participants of the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study and linked national data from multiple sources to assess correlates of youth tobacco use behaviors across individual, family, school, community, and state-level policy influences.
Results: Higher cigarette prices had the strongest association with youth tobacco use behaviors. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics at the individual, familial, and community/school-levels were associated with youth tobacco use behaviors.
Conclusions: In the present study, we confirm that higher cigarette prices could help to reduce youth tobacco use behaviors. Several states are still lagging behind in terms of their low cigarette tax and they should enact tax policies to reduce youth tobacco use.
Keywords: adolescent; nicotine; smoking; tobacco.