Smoking behaviors and attitudes in adolescents: Role of gender on racial differences

The purpose of this study is to examine racial variation in smoking patterns and attitudes separately by gender. Data were collected from high school students in a large southeastern city (N=4336). African American females constituted 46.6% of the study, followed by African American males (32.9%), White males (12.2%), and White females (11.4%). White students overall were more likely to report their friends smoke (p<0.001) whereas African American students overall were more likely to live in a home that allows smoking (p=0.008), but less likely to be in the same room (p<0.001) or car (p<0.001) with a smoker. African Americans overall were also more likely to practice saying no to smoking (p<0.001). White females are more likely to have seen a parent smoke (p=0.012). African American females were more likely to call themselves a nonsmoker (p<0.001), feel that smoking is dangerous to their health (p<0.001). Further, African American females reported they were less likely to have ever smoked (p<0.001), feel susceptible to smoking (p<0.001), accept cigarettes from friends (p<0.001) or have cigarette apparel (p<0.001). African American males were less likely to feel cigarettes were addictive ( p<0.001) or harmful (p<0.001), and more likely to feel that smokers have more friends ( p<0.001) and look cool (p<0.001). This study identifies distinctions in smoking habits and attitudes between African American and White adolescents, and provides evidence that racial differences depend on gender. Thus, interventions should be culturally sensitive with the realization that gender may play a major role in approaches to behavior modification.