The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #65860

James F Thrasher, MS, MA, Health Behavior and Health Education, CB#7440, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, (919)960-8512, thrasher@email.unc.edu, Matthew Farrelly, PhD, Research Triangle Institute, 3040 Cornwallis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, and Christine Jackson, PhD, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#7440, Rosenau Hall, School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440.

This analysis examined whether negative attitudes about the tobacco industry reduced the influence of known social risk factors for smoking among Latino adolescents. The data for this analysis were from 3,158 self-identified Latino adolescents, ages 12 to 17, who participated in the 2001 and 2002 cross-sectional surveys for the Truth campaign evaluation. All analyses accounted for the design effect, adjusted for sampling weights, and, in multiple regression models, controlled for age and gender. Bivariate analyses indicated that phase of smoking (never smoked, not open to smoking; never smoked, open to smoking; tried smoking, but not in last month; smoked in last month, but on <20 days; smoked on 20+ days in last month) was correlated with parental closeness (r=-0.18, p<0.000), school attachment (r=-0.15, p<0.000), religiosity (r=-0.16, p<0.000), an acculturation index (r=0.06, p=0.003), and an anti-industry attitude scale (r=-0.26, p<0.000). The multivariate model regressing smoking phase on interactions between anti-industry attitude and social risk factors found a statistically significant interaction with the acculturation index only. Model stratification by strength of anti-industry attitude indicated that the positive association between acculturation and smoking was limited to Latino adolescents with weak anti-industry attitudes. Main effects found for the other social risk factors suggest that anti-industry attitudes impact smoking behavior among youth at both high and low levels of these risk factors. Discussion of these results will help session participants learn how fostering anti-tobacco industry attitudes is a particularly promising strategy for preventing smoking among both high- and low-risk, culturally diverse youth.

Learning Objectives:

• Discussion of these results will help session participants learn: ways in which acculturation might influences tobacco use among Latino adolescents; pathways through which anti-tobacco attitudes might influence tobacco use among adolescents, in general; why fostering anti-tobacco industry attitudes appears to be a particularly promising strategy for preventing smoking among both high- and low-risk, culturally diverse youth.

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Latinos

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.