Cultural identification and smoking among American Indian adults in an urban setting.
OBJECTIVE
Among American Indians (AIs), an important relationship has been theorized between cultural identification and substance abuse, including smoking. We investigated the relationship between cultural identification and smoking among AI adults.


METHODS
Using the Orthogonal Cultural Identification Scale (OCIS), we examined the relationship between AI and White cultural identification and cigarette use in a sample of AI recruited at an urban Indian center (n=217).


RESULTS
We found that high AIs identification predicted smoker status and high White identification predicted non-smoker status when controlling for age and reservation residence. Orthogonal cultural identification status (categorized as high White/high AI, high White/low AI, low White/high AI, or low White/low AI) did not predict smoker status when controlling for age and reservation residence. OCIS item analysis revealed that positive responses to the individual OCIS items 'My family lives by the American Indian way of life,' 'I live by the American Indian way of life,' and 'I am a success in the American Indian way of life' predicted smoker status when controlling for age and reservation residence.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that, among some groups of urban AIs, recreational smoking is associated with AI cultural identification.
Angstman
Sarah
S
Department of Psychology, The University of Montana, Missoula, USA. sarah.angstman@umontana.edu
Harris
Kari Jo
KJ
Golbeck
Amanda
A
Swaney
Gyda
G
D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009009:Montana / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D012933:Social Identification; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population