ETHNIC-DIFFERENCES IN CORRELATES OF ADOLESCENT CIGARETTE-SMOKING

Purpose: To examine the correlates of cigarette smoking among African- American, Hispanic, and white adolescents in a cross-sectional nationa l sample. Methods: A total of 1795 mother-child dyads from the 1992 Na tional Longitudinal Survey of Youth were selected for analyses. Measur es of adolescents cigarette smoking and family, individual, peer, and sociodemographic risk factors were analyzed. Results: White youths rep orted the highest rates of lifetime, current, and persistent smoking, and initiated smoking at a significantly earlier age than African-Amer icans and Hispanics. Except for maternal cigarette smoking and substan ce use, African-Americans and Hispanics experienced a disproportionate ly larger number of purported risk factors than whites. Multivariate a nalyses revealed common and ethnic-specific correlates of adolescent l ifetime and current smoking, with many more significant associations a mong whites than minorities. Common correlates included youth's age ac ross all three ethnic groups, problem behaviors and delinquency among whites and African-Americans, and perceived peer pressure to smoke amo ng whites and Hispanics. Ethnic-specific correlates included maternal smoking, maternal cocaine use, low maternal religiosity, and negative scholastic attitudes, which increased smoking for whites; and positive parenting, which reduced smoking for African-Americans. Conclusions: The lack of effects of maternal smoking and perceived peer pressure to smoke on African-American adolescents compared with whites suggests t hat role modeling and interpersonal influence may be more important de terminants of smoking for white than African-American adolescents. The differential impact of family and peer factors on the smoking of adol escents of different ethnicity warrants further investigation. (C) Soc iety for Adolescent Medicine, 1998.