The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, utilized data from the 2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey to evaluate the relationship between smoking cessation rates and tobacco-related behaviors between the two age groups.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego found 84 percent of those ages 18 to 24 reported seriously trying to quit in one year, compared to 64 percent ages 50 to 64. The proportion of recent dependent smokers who had quit for at least six months generally decreased as age increased. Compared with older adults, young adults were less likely to use pharmaceutical aids and smoked fewer cigarettes a day.

"It is likely that high cessation rates among 18- to 24-year-olds also reflect changing social norms over the previous decade," the researchers said in a statement. "Future tobacco control efforts aimed at increasing cessation among young adult smokers should continue to target social norms."