Some context for understanding the place of the general educational development degree in the relationship between educational attainment and smoking prevalence

Abstract

IntroductionIndividuals with a General Educational Development (GED) degree have the highest smoking prevalence of any education level, including high school dropouts without a GED. Yet little research has been reported providing a context for understanding the exception that the GED represents in the otherwise graded inverse relationship between educational attainment and smoking prevalence. We investigated whether the GED may be associated with a general riskier profile that includes but is not limited to increased smoking prevalence. MethodData were obtained from three years (2011–2013) of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health ([NSDUH], N=55,940]). Prevalence of risky repertoire indicators (e.g., ever arrested, seldom/never wears a seatbelt), indicators of social instability (e.g., frequent relocations), and risky demographic characteristics (e.g., male gender) were compared among high school dropouts, GED holders, and high school graduates using Rao–Scott chi square goodness-of-fit tests and multiple logistic regression. ResultsThose with GEDs differed significantly between both high school dropouts and high school graduates across 19 of 27 (70.4%) risk indicators. Controlling for risky profile characteristics accounted for a significant but limited (25–30%) proportion of the variance in smoking prevalence across these three education levels. ConclusionGED holders exhibit a broad high-risk profile of which smoking is just one component. Future research evaluating additional risk indicators and mechanisms that may underpin this generalized risky repertoire are likely needed for a more complete understanding of GED's place in the important relationship between educational attainment and smoking prevalence.