title: Social Environmental Influences on Smoking and Cessation: Qualitative Perspectives Among Chinese-Speaking Smokers and Nonsmokers in California.
abstract: This qualitative study examines the social environmental influences on smoking and cessation from the perspectives of Chinese smokers and household nonsmokers in California. Seven focus groups were conducted with 63 participants. Three culturally influenced levels of potential intervention emerged from constant comparative analysis. At the individual level, participants focused more on irritating odor than health harms of exposure and had inaccurate beliefs about harms of smoking and cessation. At the relational level, peers kept smokers connected to pro-smoking norms. There was conflict in the home about smoking and failed cessation, but smokers recognized the benefits of cessation for family harmony and children's health. Physicians encouraged cessation but this tended to be insufficient to prompt action unless a smoker felt ill. At the societal level, participants recognized changes in social acceptability and environmental regulation of smoking upon immigration. Better implementation of smokefree policies, plus culturally nuanced strategies for equipping both nonsmokers and smokers to become smokefree, are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago, IL, 60614, USA. asaw@depaul.edu.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3214-0345
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saw
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthcare Policy and Research, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA.|Department of Sociology, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paterniti
authors.affiliation: Chinatown Public Health Center, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lei-Chun
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Janice Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Tsoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Moon S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: K Tong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010379:Peer Group; D000074285:Smokers / Q000523:psychology*; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D012931:Social Environment; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
keywords: Cessation; Chinese American; Secondhand smoke; Tobacco use