Smoking as subculture? Influence on Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women's attitudes toward smoking and obesity.

Abstract

Cultural stereotypes might help explain why smoking is less prevalent among Hispanic than non-Hispanic White women, whereas obesity is more prevalent. Hispanic (n = 130) and non-Hispanic White (n = 114) women rated their thoughts and feelings regarding a female smoker and an overweight woman. Ethnicity did not influence evaluations, but attitudes toward smokers were more positive among more acculturated Hispanic women, F(1, 66) = 9.9, p < .01. Less acculturated women evaluated an overweight woman more positively than a smoker, F(1, 28) = 5.65, p < .05; more acculturated women did the opposite, F( 1, 36) = 5.92, p < .05. Smokers evaluated smokers more positively than overweight women, F(1, 86) = 40.8, p < .01; nonsmokers did the opposite, F(l, 138) = 7.7, p < .01. Personal body weight did not influence evaluations. Acculturation and smoking status appear to have a greater influence than ethnicity or weight status on women's attitudes toward smoking and weight.

Correlates of Smoking Cessation at Pregnancy Onset among Hispanic Women in Massachusetts

“…27 Greater misclassification of self-reported smoking has also been observed in smoking cessation trials 28 where smoking cessation is the primary study objective; however, the observational nature of our study design would serve to minimize this concern. Finally, although smoking behaviors are less socially acceptable in traditional Hispanic cultures, 29,30 the relatively high rate of observed prepregnancy smoking (34%) suggests that underreporting may be less of a concern in the current study. Overall, the effect of misclassification of smoking would be to underestimate any true association between covariates and quitting smoking.…”

Correlates of Smoking Cessation at Pregnancy Onset among Hispanic Women in Massachusetts

“…27 Greater misclassification of self-reported smoking has also been observed in smoking cessation trials 28 where smoking cessation is the primary study objective; however, the observational nature of our study design would serve to minimize this concern. Finally, although smoking behaviors are less socially acceptable in traditional Hispanic cultures, 29,30 the relatively high rate of observed prepregnancy smoking (34%) suggests that underreporting may be less of a concern in the current study. Overall, the effect of misclassification of smoking would be to underestimate any true association between covariates and quitting smoking.…”

Randomized Controlled Trial for Behavioral Smoking and Weight Control Treatment: Effect of Concurrent Versus Sequential Intervention.

“…Overall, the women showed an average level of smoking-specific WC, falling in between the cutpoints for either low or high concern. We suggest that worry about weight may be sufficiently normative for American women (Johnsen, Spring, Pingitore, Sommerfeld, & McKirnan, 2002; Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1984) to make a weight gain prevention module appealing to the average female smoker. That the modal participant had sufficient WC to find weight control treatment meaningful is also suggested by the trends for those in the weight control groups to remain in treatment longer and have less missing data than control participants assigned solely to cessation treatment.…”

The Role of Trait Self-Objectification in Smoking among College Women

“…Based on previous research, we would expect to find similar variability in self-objectification between racial and ethnic groups among young women (Harrison & Fredrickson, 2003). There are racial and ethnic differences in the initiation and cessation patterns of female smokers (Johnsen, Spring, Pingitore, Sommerfeld, & MacKirnan, 2002). However, there are inconsistent findings with respect to racial and ethnic differences in women's weight concerns and weight control smoking.…”

Correlates of Smoking Cessation at Pregnancy Onset among Hispanic Women in Massachusetts

“…27 Greater misclassification of self-reported smoking has also been observed in smoking cessation trials 28 where smoking cessation is the primary study objective; however, the observational nature of our study design would serve to minimize this concern. Finally, although smoking behaviors are less socially acceptable in traditional Hispanic cultures, 29,30 the relatively high rate of observed prepregnancy smoking (34%) suggests that underreporting may be less of a concern in the current study. Overall, the effect of misclassification of smoking would be to underestimate any true association between covariates and quitting smoking.…”

Randomized Controlled Trial for Behavioral Smoking and Weight Control Treatment: Effect of Concurrent Versus Sequential Intervention.

“…Overall, the women showed an average level of smoking-specific WC, falling in between the cutpoints for either low or high concern. We suggest that worry about weight may be sufficiently normative for American women (Johnsen, Spring, Pingitore, Sommerfeld, & McKirnan, 2002; Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1984) to make a weight gain prevention module appealing to the average female smoker. That the modal participant had sufficient WC to find weight control treatment meaningful is also suggested by the trends for those in the weight control groups to remain in treatment longer and have less missing data than control participants assigned solely to cessation treatment.…”

The Role of Trait Self-Objectification in Smoking among College Women

“…Based on previous research, we would expect to find similar variability in self-objectification between racial and ethnic groups among young women (Harrison & Fredrickson, 2003). There are racial and ethnic differences in the initiation and cessation patterns of female smokers (Johnsen, Spring, Pingitore, Sommerfeld, & MacKirnan, 2002). However, there are inconsistent findings with respect to racial and ethnic differences in women's weight concerns and weight control smoking.…”

Correlates of Smoking Cessation at Pregnancy Onset among Hispanic Women in Massachusetts

“…27 Greater misclassification of self-reported smoking has also been observed in smoking cessation trials 28 where smoking cessation is the primary study objective; however, the observational nature of our study design would serve to minimize this concern. Finally, although smoking behaviors are less socially acceptable in traditional Hispanic cultures, 29,30 the relatively high rate of observed prepregnancy smoking (34%) suggests that underreporting may be less of a concern in the current study. Overall, the effect of misclassification of smoking would be to underestimate any true association between covariates and quitting smoking.…”

Randomized Controlled Trial for Behavioral Smoking and Weight Control Treatment: Effect of Concurrent Versus Sequential Intervention.

“…Overall, the women showed an average level of smoking-specific WC, falling in between the cutpoints for either low or high concern. We suggest that worry about weight may be sufficiently normative for American women (Johnsen, Spring, Pingitore, Sommerfeld, & McKirnan, 2002; Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1984) to make a weight gain prevention module appealing to the average female smoker. That the modal participant had sufficient WC to find weight control treatment meaningful is also suggested by the trends for those in the weight control groups to remain in treatment longer and have less missing data than control participants assigned solely to cessation treatment.…”

The Role of Trait Self-Objectification in Smoking among College Women

“…Based on previous research, we would expect to find similar variability in self-objectification between racial and ethnic groups among young women (Harrison & Fredrickson, 2003). There are racial and ethnic differences in the initiation and cessation patterns of female smokers (Johnsen, Spring, Pingitore, Sommerfeld, & MacKirnan, 2002). However, there are inconsistent findings with respect to racial and ethnic differences in women's weight concerns and weight control smoking.…”