Religious Beliefs Against Smoking Among Black and White Urban Youth.
This study explores the relation of religiosity to cigarette smoking in a sample of 4776 Black versus White adolescents. Findings show that Black adolescents have significantly stronger religious beliefs against smoking than do White students. Further, teens with strong or very strong religious beliefs are less likely to have smoked. The protective effect of religious beliefs against smoking was stronger for Whites than for Blacks. These findings suggest that efforts in the Black religious community to prevent cigarette smoking have been somewhat successful. Similar efforts in the White community might help stem the tide of tobacco use among White teens.
School of Public Health, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA.
Adam C
AC
Alexander
Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, 400 Innovation Drive, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA. Lrobinso@memphis.edu.
Leslie A
LA
Robinson
School of Public Health, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA.
Kenneth D
KD
Ward
Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, 400 Innovation Drive, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA.
Amy S
AS
Farrell
Department of Psychology, Knox College, Galesburg, IL, USA.
Adam C
AC
Ferkin
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012067:Religion; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Adolescents; Religiosity; Religious beliefs; Smoking; Tobacco