Familial Influences on African-American Adolescents' Smoking Habits

Because most smokers begin smoking during adolescence and because there are few studies that focus on African-American adolescent's smoking behavior, the purpose of this study was to determine if a significant difference exists in the prevalence of smoking between African-American adolescent teens living with household members who smoke and those living with household members who do not smoke. The subjects in this study were 585 adolescents (342 females and 243 males) who received services at the Center Hill Health Center from 2001 to 2004. The data was collected from the medical records of the clients selected for this study. The data in this study was analyzed using Chi Square tests of independence. The first analysis revealed that a significant difference existed between the smoking status of the household members of adolescents who were smokers compared to those who where non- smokers.