Causal Factors of Smokeless Tobacco Use among College Students: A Literature Review

Objectives: This paper presents a literature review that explores the causal factors of smokeless tobacco use among college students in the United States. Methods: A literature search was conducted among national and international peer-reviewed literature in the following databases: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), MEDLINE, and PsycARTICLES. A manual search was performed to obtain relevant articles within selected journals. Results: Of the five reviewed studies, three indicated that participation in intercollegiate sports is a causal factor that has a significant relationship with smokeless tobacco use among college students. Two of the reviewed studies provided evidence that peer influence is closely related to smokeless tobacco use among college students. Finally, one of the reviewed studies showed that school type was also an important casual factor relating to college students' smokeless tobacco use. Conclusion: The findings from this literature review indicate that future smokeless tobacco use prevention efforts targeting college students might benefit from incorporating intercollegiate sports participation, peer influence, and school type into multicomponent programs that focus on the different causal factors.