FACTORS PROMOTING CIGARETTE-SMOKING AMONG BLACK-YOUTH - A CAUSAL-MODELING APPROACH

A longitudinal model of Black adolescent smoking was tested using 223 seventh-grade students attending public schools in northern New Jersey . Interpersonal and intrapersonal factors were hypothesized to have an impact on Black seventh graders' decision to smoke. After conducting an exploratory Principal Factor Analysis (PFA) using a varimax rotatio n with the Time 1 data, a structural equation model was developed and refined through successive iterations. The final model revealed friend s' smoking to be the most significant predictor of Black adolescent sm oking at Time 1, but perceived smoking norms and intrapersonal factors such as decision making, self-efficacy, and self-esteem at home and a t school exerted an important influence on smoking at Time 2. These re sults suggest that. social influence factors may be important early in the smoking initiation process, but factors such as perceived smoking norms and intrapersonal factors may play an important role in maintai ning the smoking habit in Black adolescents.