Three sets of cigarette use data for NLSY79 respondents are available. (1) Data were collected, during the 1984 survey, on age at first use, most recent use, and number of cigarettes smoked in the past 30 days. (2) The 1992, 1994, and 1998 surveys gathered information from those respondents who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their life on the age that they started smoking daily or the number of months/years since they had last smoked daily. (3) The 1983–86, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994–2002, and 2004 surveys gathered, for female NLSY79 respondents, information on whether they smoked in the twelve months before pregnancy and on the number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy (2000–2004).
Survey Instruments: Questions on cigarette use can be found in Section 14 of the 1984 questionnaire, in the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Self-Administered Drug Use Supplement, and in the “Fertility” section of the 1983–86, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994–2004 questionnaires.
Data Files: Variables from the 1984, 1992, 1994, and 1998 surveys can be found in the “Drugs” area of interest; the yearly “Birth Record xxxx” area of interest contains the cigarette use during pregnancy variables.
Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Data were collected beginning in 1988 for NLSY79 children 10 years of age and older on age at first use and extent of use of cigarettes. A more extensive set of questions was asked of the Young Adults beginning in 1994.
In the NLSY97 round 1, all respondents were first asked whether they had ever smoked an entire cigarette; if so, they reported their age on the first occasion. In subsequent rounds, respondents were asked whether they had smoked a cigarette since the date of last interview, and if they had, frequency of use and the quantity of cigarettes smoked. Detailed information on cigarette use was gathered from the Mature Women in 1989 and from the Young Women in 1991 and 1993; these respondents also indicated whether they currently smoked in 1995–2003 surveys. Older Men provided retrospective smoking data in 1990. Consult the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/nls or the appropriate cohort’s User’s Guide for further details.