RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE ORIENTATION AND CIGARETTE-SMOKING BELIEFS OF LATINAS

Bivariate and multivariate procedures were used to examine the relatio nship between a language-based measure of acculturation (i.e., languag e orientation) and beliefs about smoking among 1,411 Latinas (females of Latino origin). Results indicate that, compared to Latinas with a S panish-language orientation, Latinas with an English-language/bilingua l orientation were less likely to acknowledge the danger associated wi th smoking an occasional cigarette or recognize the difficulty in quit ting smoking, more likely to identify beneficial aspects of smoking, a nd more likely to consider smoking socially acceptable.