Taking a First Puff: Cigarette smoking experiences among ethnically diverse adolescents

Abstract

In order to design effective cigarette smoking prevention programs for adolescents, it is important to understand the meaning of smoking behaviors for adolescents from different ethnic and social backgrounds.

Behavioural Risk Factors and Protective Factors in Adolescents: A Comparison of Latinos and Non-Latino Whites

“…Perhaps however the higher level of optimism in the bicultural group relative to the marginalised group is a marker for differences in their health status that will be apparent later in adolescence or in adulthood. 21,28 These nding on the higher risk status of marginalised Latinos thus are in part consistent with recent research suggesting that persons with weak attachment to both their host and new culture may be at the highest risk for negative physical as well as mental health outcomes. 29 Also, despite the marginalised group overall being the second highest of the four acculturation groups in the social class indicator, the marginalised youth were signi cantly higher in depressive symptomatology than all other groups.…”

“…One strong example for this is for examining differences in youth smoking rates in the US-where low social class and self-identi cation as White are consistently associated with increase risk for smoking, while they are inversely associated with each other. 4,5,21 These trends have also been replicated not only with self-reports of smoking but also with biochemical indices of smoking. 22 In sum, the relationships between ethnicity and smoking are stronger in the general adolescent population level when the relationships of social class are also simultaneously considered, suggesting the importance for considering the potential for independent explanatory power of each.…”

State Anti-Tobacco Advertising and Smoking Outcomes by Gender and Race/Ethnicity

“…Further, research has revealed significant inter-ethnic differences in a variety of smoking-related behaviours, including cigarette smoking prevalence , brand preference, the influence of price on brand selection, and impact of promotional items (Gittelsohn et al 1999). Ethnic differences have also been shown in physiological responses to initial smoking (Alexander et al 1999), and the likelihood that smoking relates to perceived peer acceptance (Parker et al 1998).…”

Social and Psychological Predictors of Initial Cigarette Smoking Experience

“…Meanwhile, peer influence (Alexander, Allen, Crawford, & McCormick, 1999;H. Y. Chang et al, 2011), ethnic and social background (Alexander et al, 1999), family or friends smoking (Bawazeer, Hattab, & Morales, 1999;Okoli et al, 2008), urban or rural residency, and access to cigarettes (H. Y. Chang et al, 2011;Nichols, Birnbaum, Birnel, & Botvin, 2006) are known as social factors related to ICSE.…”

“…These studies reported that the perceived prevalence of smoking in peers (Jackson, 1997), pubertal stage (Harrell, Bangdiwala, Deng, Webb, & Bradley, 1998), liking smoking (O'Connor et al, 2005), self-efficacy (Okoli, Richardson, & Johnson, 2008), alcohol consumption, drug use, behavioral undercontrol (Myers, Doran, Trinidad, Wall, & Klonoff, 2009), and pleasant or unpleasant initial smoking experience (Urban, 2010) are strong psychological factors related to ICSE. Meanwhile, peer influence (Alexander, Allen, Crawford, & McCormick, 1999;H. Y. Chang et al, 2011), ethnic and social background (Alexander et al, 1999), family or friends smoking (Bawazeer, Hattab, & Morales, 1999;Okoli et al, 2008), urban or rural residency, and access to cigarettes (H. Y.…”