Lifetime abstainers from cigarette smoking constituted 11.9% of the sample. In Cohort II, non-abstainers were asked, “How old were you when you tried your first cigarette?” Cohort III was queried, “How old were you the first time you smoked even a puff of a cigarette?” Responses for tobacco initiation ranged from 2 to 33 years. To reduce the influence of low values, individuals who reported ages below 5 years were equated to 5 years. The variable reasonably approximated a univariate normal distribution (skewness=0.22, kurtosis=1.35). Reported ages of smoking initiation were 14.0 years in Cohort II and 14.3 years in Cohort III. In the current combined sample, mean ages of smoking initiation for men and women were 13.7 years (SD=3.4) and 14.4 years (SD=3.4), respectively. Retest data demonstrated good reliability in respondent recall (r(148)=.72, p<.0001).2 Potential age-related bias was examined by correlating individuals' ages with their reported ages of cigarette initiation. The correlation of −.01 suggested minimal bias. Associations between the age of cigarette initiation and birth year (r=.06) and year of assessment (r=.05) were low.
