Background. To determine attitudes towards smoking, perception of self-efficacy, and the intention of smoking cessation in college student smokers, and their variation according to the stage of the tobacco cessation process. Methods. Cross-sectional study with 255 college students (18-24 years old) smokers of >= 1 cigarette per week. Instruments used: a staff interview, Fagestrom test, transtheoretical change model, scale of Attitudes, self-efficacy and intention to quit smoking in college smokers and CO in exhaled air. Results. Sample with a majority of women (62%), average age 20.3 years, users of 9.2 cigarettes/day for 5.7 years, with mild dependence on nicotine; 69% were in the stages of pre-contemplation and contemplation. Although smoking was considered to be negative for health and the environment for more than 70%, and 96.7% had negative attitudes towards tobacco, only 45.1% were aware of the associated morbidity and mortality. More than 60% considered tobacco to be a social facilitator, thus anxiety (72.6%) and having friends who smoke (69.4%) are factors considered negative for tobacco cessation. Ninety-one percent believed that they would smoke next year, but 86% stated that they would not be a smoker within five years. One hundred percent of the subjects in pre-contemplation considered that they will smoke during the next year as opposed to 83.5% of those in the stage of preparation. Conclusion. College student smokers show positive attitudes, erroneous beliefs and a low perception of self-efficacy about smoking cessation. All students in the pre-contemplation phase do not even consider smoking cessation in the medium and long term.

Background. The sense of coherence (SOC), the central concept of the salutogenesis model described by Aaron Antonovsky, has been employed as a predictor of measures of perceived and objective health. It is strongly and positively related to healthy behaviour and is mainly developed while young and studying. University students are a target youth group for applying measures promoting health according to their SOC level; it is therefore necessary to check the quality of the scale's measurement. The goal is to validate and study the psychometric properties of the SOC scale in students at the University of Navarre and determine their temporal evolution. Methods. Newly enrolled students at the University of Navarre were analysed. Cohort study with a 3 year follow-up. The instruments used were the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ-13), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Discomfort Index. The following were studied: the quality and viability of the data, scale assumptions, temporal stability, reliability, concurrent and clinical validity, as well as factorial structure and confirmatory analysis of the data obtained. SPSS v. 19 and Amos v.7 statistical software were used. Results. The study sample consisted of 508 students, 33.5% male and 65.9% female. High reliability (Cronbach Alpha 0.814). Adequate validity converging with the PSS. Inadequate clinical validity. Analysis of main components with three factors that explain 50.73% of the variation. Conclusions. A valid instrument that makes it possible to propose it as a tool for applying measures promoting health in young people.