CIGARETTE-SMOKING BEHAVIOR AND BELIEFS OF HISPANICS IN CALIFORNIA

We examined the association between ethnicity and cigarette smoking be liefs and behavior in a 1990 random-digit dialing telephone survey of 3,164 Hispanic and 17,975 non-Hispanic white adults in California. Eth nic self-identification and native language were associated with the p revalence of current smoking in women but not in men. However, both ma le and female Hispanics smoked fewer cigarettes per day than their non -Hispanic counterparts. Hispanics who reported smoking in the past 12 months were more likely than non-Hispanics to have reached the action stage of cessation and to report an attempt to quit smoking. Spanish-s peaking Hispanics were most likely to believe in the harmful effects o f smoking, but also most likely to believe that smoking was not addict ive, that they were not addicted to cigarettes, and that smoking is so mething everyone should try once. Cessation and prevention programs th at target Hispanic populations must be especially sensitive to values and gender-specific acculturation processes that create a discrepancy between the desire to adopt the lifestyles of the dominant society and the recognition of the concomitant health-related risks.