Individual, familial and social predictors of experimental and current cigarette smoking among Asian American adolescents: Findings from the 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey

Although it is well documented that adolescent smoking is a public health concern, fewer studies have examined multiple predictors of different stages of cigarette smoking among Asian American adolescents. Given this population is one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the U.S., it is important to provide information about establishing smoking cessation and prevention programs. This study examined individual, familial and social predictors of experimental and current cigarette smoking in a sample of 1,185 adolescents drawn from the 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Findings revealed nearly one-fifth (16.6%) experimented with cigarettes; and 3.5% smoked in the last month. Significantly more male than female youths reported both smoking behavior. Multivariate analyses showed that, compared with non-smokers, experimental smokers were significantly more likely to have smoking intention (OR=1.70, 95%CI: 1.24, 2.34), best friends' smoking (OR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.24, 1.83) and missing classes (OR=1.45, 95%CI: 1.15, 1.84), but less likely to use tobacco company products (OR=0.69, 95%CI: 0.51, 0.92). Current smokers were significantly more likely to have family discussion about the dangers of smoking (OR=2.11, 95%CI: 1.10, 4.04) as well as smoking intention (OR=8.33, 95%CI: 3.32, 20.86) while they were less likely to have in-house smoking ban (OR=0.14, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.56) and exposure to tobacco advertising (OR=0.77, 95%CI: 0.60, 1.00) than non-smokers. Compared with experimenters, current smokers were still more likely to have smoking intention (OR=10.25, 95%CI: 3.35, 31.35) and the family discussion (OR=2.09, 95%CI: 1.09, 4.02). These findings suggest that smoking cessation and prevention efforts consider different stages of smoking.