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Hardcore smokers are described as heavy smokers who have not attempted to quit and have no future intentions to quit. The objectives of this study were to characterize hardcore and nonhardcore smokers in Italy. The data for this analysis were collected from 3057 Italians aged 15 years and older in March and April 2007 who were randomly selected to be representative of the population. Hardcore smoking, defined as consuming 15 or more cigarettes per day with no earlier quit attempts and no future intention to quit, was examined in individuals who were aged 26 years and older. Hardcore smokers were compared with their nonhardcore counterparts with respect to sociodemographic and smoking characteristics, perceived stress, and attitudes and beliefs about smoking. The smoking prevalence overall was 23.5% (27.9% among males and 19.3% among females). An estimated 7.8% of individuals were hardcore smokers (9.7% among males and 6% among females), which translates into 33.1% of all smokers in Italy. Age at smoking initiation, occupation (among males), home smoking rules, and perceived stress (among females) distinguished hardcore from nonhardcore smokers. This is the highest prevalence of hardcore smoking that has been reported in the literature to date. This reflects the general attitude toward smoking cessation in Italy. Although the indoor smoking ban has helped to reduce the rate of smoking, it is clearly not enough. Stronger tobacco control measures are warranted.

BACKGROUND: Hardcore smoking is represented by a subset of daily smokers with high nicotine dependence, inability to quit and unwillingness to quit. Estimating the related burden could help us in identifying a high risk population prone to tobacco induced diseases and improve cessation planning for them. This study assessed the prevalence and associated factors of hardcore smoking in three South-East Asian countries and discussed its implication for smoking cessation intervention in this region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) data of India, Bangladesh and Thailand were analyzed to quantify the hardcore smoking prevalence in the region. On the basis of review, an operational definition of hardcore smoking was adopted that includes (1) current daily smoker, (2) no quit attempt in the past 12 months of survey or last quit attempt of less than 24 hours duration, (3) no intention to quit in next 12 months or not interested in quitting, (4) time to first smoke within 30 minutes of waking up, and (5) knowledge of smoking hazards. Logistic regression analysis was carried out using hardcore smoking status as response variable and gender, type of residence, occupation, education, wealth index and age-group as possible predictors. RESULTS: There were 31.3 million hardcore smokers in the three Asian countries. The adult prevalence of hardcore smoking in these countries ranges between 3.1% in India to 6% in Thailand. These hardcore smokers constitute 18.3-29.7% of daily smokers. The logistic regression model indicated that age, gender, occupation and wealth index are the major predictors of hardcore smoking with varied influence across countries. CONCLUSIONS: Presence of a higher number of hardcore smoking populations in Asia is a major public health challenge for tobacco control and cancer prevention. There is need of intensive cessation interventions with due consideration of contextual predictors.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence and characteristics of hardcore smokers in England. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTING: Interview in respondents' household. PARTICIPANTS: 7766 adult cigarette smokers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hardcore smoking defined by four criteria (less than a day without cigarettes in the past five years; no attempt to quit in the past year; no desire to quit; no intention to quit), all of which had to be satisfied. RESULTS: Some 16% of all smokers were categorised as hardcore. Hardcore smoking was associated with nicotine dependence, socioeconomic deprivation, and age, rising from 5% in young adults aged 16-24 to 30% in those aged >or= 65 years. Hardcore smokers displayed distinctive attitudes towards and beliefs about smoking. In particular they were likely to deny that smoking affected their health or would do so in the future. Prevalence of hardcore smoking was almost four times higher than in California. CONCLUSION: Hardcore smoking presents a serious challenge to public health efforts to reduce the prevalence of smoking, but the proportion of hardcore smokers does not necessarily increase as overall prevalence in a population declines. More hardcore smokers could be persuaded to quit, but this will require interventions that are targeted to the particular needs and perceptions of both socially disadvantaged and older smokers.

BACKGROUND: Hardcore smokers are smokers who have smoked for many years and who do not intend to quit smoking. The "hardening hypothesis" states that light smokers are more likely to quit smoking than heavy smokers (such as hardcore smokers). Therefore, the prevalence of hardcore smoking among smokers would increase over time. If this is true, the smoking population would become harder to reach with tobacco control measures. In this study we tested the hardening hypothesis. METHODS: We calculated the prevalence of hardcore smoking in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2012. Smokers were 'hardcore' if they a) smoked every day, b) smoked on average 15 cigarettes per day or more, c) had not attempted to quit in the past 12 months, and d) had no intention to quit within 6 months. We used logistic regression models to test whether the prevalence changed over time. We also investigated whether trends differed between educational levels. RESULTS: Among smokers, the prevalence of hardcore smoking decreased from 40.8 % in 2001 to 32.2 % in 2012. In the general population, it decreased from 12.2 to 8.2 %. Hardcore smokers were significantly lower educated than non-hardcore smokers. Among the general population, the prevalence of hardcore smoking decreased more among higher educated people than among lower educated people. CONCLUSIONS: We found no support for the hardening hypothesis in the Netherlands between 2001 and 2012. Instead, the decrease of hardcore smoking among smokers suggests a 'softening' of the smoking population.

INTRODUCTION: As smoking prevalence declines, some suggest that so-called "hardcore" smokers will come to represent a growing and irreducible proportion of current smokers ("hardening hypothesis"). Different definitions of a "hardcore" smoker have been used in the literature. This paper describes population-based definitions of "hardcore" smokers and compares estimates of the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers derived using these definitions. METHODS: Definitions identified in a comprehensive literature search were reduced to their component constructs. We estimated the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers as a proportion of all current adult smokers in Ontario, Canada, using data from the Ontario Tobacco Survey (2005-2008; N = 4,130). Definition concordance was examined using bivariate cross-tabulations. RESULTS: Six definitions were identified in the literature. Five definitions included constructs of quit intentions and quit attempts, four included nicotine dependence, three included long-term use, and one included a measure of smoker knowledge about smoking hazards and confronting substantial societal disapprobation of smoking. Estimates of "hardcore" smoker prevalence in Ontario based on these definitions ranged from 0.03% to 13.77%. CONCLUSIONS: Estimates of the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers in Ontario varied considerably between the six definitions of the "hardcore" smokers found in the population-based literature. This study underscores the need for consensus on the best definition of "hardcore" smoker.

OBJECTIVES: This paper used national survey data to investigate 'hardcore' smoking as predicted by the 'hardening hypothesis', and to examine the relationship between 'hardcore' smoking and socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: Analyses were performed using data from four waves of the Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey between 2001 and 2010, a large national survey with a sample size of approximately 24,000 participants per wave. The primary outcome variable was 'hardcore' smoking, comprised of the variables: 'no quit attempt in past 12 months'; 'no plan to quit'; and smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day. The main predictor variables used were SES assessed by the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), and survey wave. Other sociodemographic variables were also examined. RESULTS: Overall, 'hardcore' smoking remained stable from 2001 to 2010. However, 'hardcore' smoking declined among high-SES smokers (from 1.8% to 1.0%), but not among low-SES smokers (around 3.4%). 'Hardcore' smoking was strongly associated with SEIFA quintile (p<0.001). There was a significant interaction effect between top and bottom SEIFA quintiles and wave (p=0.025), with a decline in 'hardcore' smoking measures over the four waves among those in the top two SEIFA quintiles, with odds in 2010 of 0.39 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.87; p=0.012), down from 0.64 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.82; p<0.001) in 2001, while 'hardcore' smoking remained stable among those in the bottom two SEIFA quintiles. CONCLUSIONS: The results from high SES smokers suggest 'hardcore' smokers are able to quit, but outcomes among low-SES smokers are less encouraging.

The existence of "hardcore" smokers, those most likely to have substantial difficulty quitting, may have far reaching impact on how to best allocate cessation resources. It has been suggested that hardcore smokers make up only a small fraction of current smokers and therefore do not represent a significant public health problem. However, little is known about the prevalence and nature of this subgroup of smokers in the United States. Based on a national sample, the 1998-1999 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey, we categorized, based on smoking pattern, groups of current smokers who were over age 25 years (N=33,568). We compared hardcore smokers with other groups of current smokers on demographic, environmental, and smoking variables to assess whether hardcore smokers represent a unique group. Hardcore smokers were defined as established daily smokers, consuming 15 or more cigarettes per day with no reported history of quit attempts. Hardcore smokers represent 13.7% of all current smokers and 17.6% of all established smokers. They are more likely to be male, unmarried, not in the work force, and have lower education. They also are more likely to have started smoking at a younger age, smoke more, and are less likely to report contact with smoking restrictions. This analysis suggests that hardcore smokers are distinct from other groups of smokers. These results also indicate that hardcore smokers account for a substantial proportion of smokers and as such may represent a significant public health challenge that needs to be addressed.

Objectives Hardcore smokers have smoked for many years and do not intend to quit. They also seem unreceptive to information about smoking cessation. We developed a 30‐min, tailored web‐based intervention that includes motivational interviewing principles. It aims to increase hardcore smokers’ intention to quit and their receptivity to information about smoking cessation. Design In a two‐arm experiment, we compared outcome scores of the experimental intervention ( n = 346) with those of a control intervention ( n = 411). Methods Our main outcomes were receptivity to information about quitting, intention to quit, quitting self‐efficacy, and interest in a subsequent online intervention. Our secondary outcomes were cigarettes smoked per day and quit attempts. All outcomes were measured directly post‐experiment (t 1 ), after 2 weeks (t 2 ), and after 2 months (t 3 ). Results At t 1 , hardcore smokers in the intervention condition were more receptive to information about quitting than controls. At both t 2 and t 3 , those in the experimental group had reduced the number of cigarettes more than those in the control group. At t 2 , but not t 3 , more participants in the experimental group had reduced their cigarette consumption by at least 50% than among controls. We found no significant differences in intention to quit, quitting self‐efficacy, interest in a subsequent online quitting intervention, and number of quit attempts. Conclusions The intervention increased hardcore smokers’ receptivity to information about smoking cessation and decreased their cigarette consumption by about 1 cigarette per day. Although the results are positive, the clinical relevance may be limited. We recommend further developing this intervention for practical use in health care settings. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Hardcore smokers have smoked for many years and do not intend to quit. There are currently no online interventions for hardcore smokers. What does this study add? This study tested an online intervention for hardcore smokers. The intervention increased hardcore smokers’ receptivity to information about quitting. It also helped to reduce the number of cigarettes per day.

AIMS: It has been hypothesized that the smoking population is represented by an increasingly 'hardcore' group of smokers who are resistant to quitting. Many definitions of 'hardcore smokers' have been used, but their predictive validity is unknown. To evaluate whether 'hardcore smoker' definition components predict quitting behaviours and which combinations of 'hardcore' components are most predictive. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Longitudinal, random telephone survey of a representative sample of adult smokers in Ontario, Canada (n = 4130, recruited 2005-08 and followed for 1 year). MEASUREMENTS: Multiple logistic regression models were compared to evaluate the predictive ability of 'hardcore' components (high daily cigarette consumption, high nicotine dependence, being a daily smoker, history of long-term smoking, no quit intention and no life-time quit attempt) on three outcomes [continued smoking, not attempting to quit and having unsuccessful quit attempt(s)]. FINDINGS: All 'hardcore' components predicted having no quit attempt and continued smoking during follow-up (P < 0.05), except for history of long-term smoking and no life-time quit attempt (for continued smoking). Among respondents who made 1 + quit attempts during follow-up, only high nicotine dependence, high daily cigarette consumption and being a daily smoker were predictive of quitting failure (P < 0.01). The best combination of components depended on the outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Measures of 'hardcore' include a mixture of motivational, dependence and behavioural variables. As found previously, motivational and behavioural measures, such as intention to quit, predict failure to make quit attempts. However, dependence components best predicted continued smoking and thus would be best for further exploring the hardening hypothesis.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence and correlates of hardcore smokers, who have high daily cigarette consumption, no quitting history and no intention to quit, have been studied in several western developed countries, but no previous trials of smoking cessation have tested intervention effectiveness for these smokers. The current study examined if hardcore smokers can benefit from smoking reduction intervention to achieve cessation, and explored the underlying reasons. METHODS: A posteriori analysis was conducted on data from a randomized controlled trial of smoking reduction intervention on 1,154 smokers who did not want to quit. Odds ratios of 7-day point prevalence of abstinence, smoking reduction by at least 50% and quit attempt at the 6-month follow-up comparing subgroups of smokers were analyzed. RESULTS: In hardcore smokers, the odds ratio comparing the quit rate between the intervention and control group was 4.18 (95% CI: 0.51-34.65), which was greater than non-hardcore smokers (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 0.98-2.54). The number needed to treat for hardcore and non-hardcore smokers was 8.33 (95% CI: 5.56-16.67) and 16.67 (95% CI: 8.33-233.64), respectively. In smokers who did not have quit attempt experience and those who smoked more than 15 cigarettes daily, the odds ratio comparing intervention and control group was 3.29 (95% CI: 0.72-14.98) and 1.36 (95% CI: 0.78-2.36), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The a posteriori analysis provided pilot results that smoking reduction intervention may be effective to help hardcore smokers to quit and reduce smoking. Having no previous quit attempt was identified as more important than having large cigarette consumption in explaining the greater effectiveness of the intervention.

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the hardcore drinking driver concept in the context of the alcohol-impaired driving problem. METHOD: Review of the relevant literature. RESULTS: As progress against alcohol-impaired driving slowed in the early 1990s, public and political attention turned to "hardcore" drinking drivers, and they have been a priority for the past 15 years. Though intuitive, the hardcore concept has been difficult to conceptualize. Its definition of hard-to-change chronic heavy drinking drivers focuses on a group that is not easily identifiable and ignores many who account for a large portion of alcohol-impaired driving crashes. These include drivers who drink heavily on occasion and drivers who drink at more moderate levels that elevate crash risk. Emphasis on the hardcore has focused attention on the small proportion of drinking drivers who have been detected and arrested, whereas the vast majority of drinking drivers go undetected. Some countermeasures aimed at the hardcore group have been effective in reducing recidivism, but attention and resources also need to be given to general deterrent initiatives (e.g., 0.08 g/dL, sobriety checkpoints, administrative license suspension). There has been no reduction in the overall alcohol-impaired driving problem since the mid-1990s. CONCLUSION: Reductions in the alcohol-impaired driving problem require that attention be focused on all relevant target groups. Some benefits could accrue by recognizing that countermeasures developed for hardcore drinking drivers, such as alcohol ignition interlocks and vehicle or plate impoundment, might also be effective with more numerous first-time offenders. However, such strategies are likely to be most effective against recidivism (specific deterrence). Greater gains could be achieved through general deterrent efforts (increasing the real and perceived risk of arrest and punishment to all drinking drivers), along with application of public health measures designed to reduce overall consumption. Additional ways need to be found to separate drinking and driving, either through cultural changes in drinking and/or driving behavior or, in the future, with the use of technology that can make vehicles inoperable by drivers with illegal blood alcohol concentrations.

Hardcore, or long-term derelict and vacant brownfield sites which are often contaminated, form a significant proportion of brownfield land in many cities, not only in the UK but also in other countries. The recent economic recession has placed the economic viability of such sites in jeopardy. This paper compares the approaches for bringing back hardcore brownfield sites into use in England and Japan by focusing on ten case studies in Manchester and Osaka, using an ‘agency’-based framework. The findings are set in the context of (i) national brownfield and related policy agendas; (ii) recent trends in land and property markets in both England and Japan; and (iii) city-level comparisons of brownfields in Manchester and Osaka. The research, which was conducted during 2009–10, suggests that hardcore brownfield sites have been badly affected by the recent recession in both Manchester and Osaka. Despite this, not only is there evidence that hardcore sites have been successfully regenerated in both cities, but also that the critical success factors (CSFs) operating in bringing sites back into use share a large degree of commonality. These CSFs include the presence of strong potential markets, seeing the recession as an opportunity, long-term vision, strong branding, strong partnerships, integrated development, and getting infrastructure into place. Finally, the paper outlines the policy implications of the research.

Based on a very large dataset of over 100 million Steam platform users we present the first comprehensive analysis of hardcore gamer profiles by over 700,000 hardcore players (users playing more than 20 hours per week) covering more than 3,300 games. Using an unsupervised machine learning approach we reveal the specific behavioral categories of hardcore players, i.e. First Person Shooter, Team Fortress 2 player, Action game player, Dota 2 player, Strategy and action combiner, Genre-switching player. Subsequently we derive individual patterns of hardcore gamers in the categories found, such as strategy-action games combiner or game switching players. Our results are useful for computer science and information systems scholars interested in individual differences in user behavior as well as practitioners interested in game-designing.

Smoking rates in the USA declined from 42.4% in 1965 to 20.6% in 2008 but have remained essentially unchanged in recent years.1 2 This plateau has caused public health advocates to evaluate current programming and seek better understanding of smoking subpopulations.3 One subpopulation of interest is ‘hardcore’ smokers, who are more addicted, less open to cessation interventions and have been deemed a ‘small but intractable public health problem.’3 Previous studies have examined the prevalence of hardcore smokers and compared them to other smokers,4–7 finding hardcore smokers comprise 5.2%–14% of US smokers.4 5 Part of the variability in prevalence estimates is likely due to definitional differences between studies.8 State-level hardcore …

Abstract This article examines the role played by adolescents in the American school band and highlights the meaning and value they derive from participation. The study is based on insights and personal narratives obtained from hardcore band kids. One interesting finding is that there are three major hierarchical strata in the band—hardcore members, the “middles,” and the “slackers”—with only the hardcores forming a true clique. The kids were passionate and sincere about the importance of music in general and band in particular. They characterized band as a social learning space where they could find identity, lose themselves in performing, and work with peers to meet goals more ambitious than they could ever accomplish individually.

The present study examined pornography viewing, rape myth acceptance, and sexist attitudes. Data came from 392 male and 903 female participants. Multigroup SEM indicated neither pornography viewing, nor hardcore pornography viewing, were related to rape myth acceptance when controlling for sexist attitudes among men. Wald tests indicated hostile sexism to be a significantly stronger predictor of all rape myths examined compared to pornography viewing or hardcore pornography viewing in men and women. Latent variable interaction analyses suggested hardcore pornography viewing as a significant exacerbating factor for the relationship between hostile sexism and "she asked for it" rape myths across genders.

In 1957 Sykes and Matza introduced Neutralization Theory as a response to the prevailing criminological wisdom that offenders engage in crime because they adhere to an oppositional subcultural rule set that values law breaking and violence. Sykes and Matza rejected this perspective arguing that, despite their involvement with offending, delinquents maintain a strong bond to conventional society and want to perceive themselves as “good.” To resolve their contemplated law breaking with this desired self-identity, they employ neutralization techniques designed to assuage anticipated guilt. Subsequent research indicates that the original formulation of the theory is limited to explaining the behavior of conventionally attached individuals and fails to address the decision-making processes of nonconventionally oriented individuals such as criminally embedded street offenders. The current paper argues that, for a core group of such offenders, guilt is not an issue at all because their crimes are not only considered acceptable, but attractive and desirable. In-depth, semistructured interviews conducted with 191 active, noninstitutionalized “hardcore” street offenders indicate they discount guilt not through neutralizations but by attaching normative definitions to their crimes (as either mundane, inevitable, or enjoyable) that preclude them from eliciting guilt in the first place. In addition, these interviews detail the manner in which such outlooks develop among hardcore offenders and how they are maintained in a manner that supports further offending.

We consider a Hubbard-like model of strongly interacting spinless fermions and hardcore bosons on a square lattice, such that nearest neighbor occupation is forbidden. Stripes (lines of holes across the lattice forming antiphase walls between ordered domains) are a favorable way to dope this system below half filling. The problem of a single stripe can be mapped to fermions in one dimension, which allows understanding of its elementary excitations and calculation of the stripe's effective mass for transverse vibrations. Using Lanczos exact diagonalization, we investigate the excitation gap and dispersion of a hole on a stripe, and the interaction of two holes. We also study the interaction of a few stripes, finding that they repel and the interaction energy decays with stripe separation as if they are hardcore particles moving in one (transverse) direction. To determine the stability of an array of stripes against phase separation into a particle-rich phase and a hole-rich liquid, we evaluate the liquid's equation of state, finding that the stripe-array is not stable for bosons but is possibly stable for fermions.

In his definitive ethnography of hardcore bodybuilding in Southern California, Klein (1993) examined gender construction in a narcissistic subculture characterized by deceit and excess on many levels. In the present article, I compare my own experiences as a strength athlete and bodybuilding author with some of the observations Klein made at Olympic Gym. Like Klein, I address ironies associated with hardcore bodybuilding and discuss the nature of deviance in the bodybuilding subculture.