Lighting Up: Young Adults' Autobiographical Accounts of Their First Smoking Experiences.

Explored young adults' autobiographical memories of their first consumption of cigarettes using a form of life history. Analysis of 276 college students' first-person essays indicated that the first-use experience was a symbolically significant and enduring life event. Participants provided rich, detailed recollections about the contextual nature of the first smoking act and the influences and outcomes associated with the event. (SM)