Three sets of cigarette use data for NLSY79 respondents are available: 

• Data were collected during the 1984 survey on
  • age at first use
  • most recent use
  • the number of cigarettes smoked in the past 30 days. 
• The 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2008-2014 surveys gathered information from respondents on:
  • who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their life
  • the number of cigarettes they smoked per day
  • the number of months/years since they had last smoked daily
• The 1983-86, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994-2018 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.

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 NLSY79 children once they became NLSY79 young adults.

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. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.