English language use as a risk factor for smoking initiation among Hispanic and Asian American adolescents: evidence for mediation by tobacco-related beliefs and social norms.
Acculturation increases the risk of smoking among Hispanic and Asian American adolescents, but the underlying mechanisms are not understood. This study examined associations between English language use and smoking among 4,167 Hispanic and 2,836 Asian American adolescents in California. Potential mediators were assessed, including access to cigarettes, perceived consequences, friends' smoking, cigarette offers, refusal self-efficacy, and prevalence estimates of peer smoking. English language use was associated with increased risk of lifetime smoking in both groups. This association became nonsignificant after access, perceived consequences, friends' smoking, and offers were controlled for. The acculturation process (as indicated by English language use) may be associated with smoking-related psychosocial variables, which may lead to an increased risk of experimentation with smoking.
Unger
J B
JB
Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles 90033, USA. unger@hsc.usc.edu
Cruz
T B
TB
Rohrbach
L A
LA
Ribisl
K M
KM
Baezconde-Garbanati
L
L
Chen
X
X
Trinidad
D R
DR
Johnson
C A
CA
D000293:Adolescent; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*