Impact of Dating and Sexual Violence on Smoking among African-American Youth

Introduction: Studies have found that African American youth report lower rates of smoking and later ages of smoking initiation when compared with white adolescents. However, during adulthood the smoking prevalence rates reverse and African American adults report higher rates of smoking compared with Caucasians; a phenomenon known as the Age Crossover Hypothesis. In this presentation, we explore the role that violence victimization may play in this phenomenon. The objective of this study was to look at the association between dating violence and smoking behavior among African American adolescents.

Methods: Data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System was used for this study. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used to evaluate the associations between dating and sexual violence and smoking behaviors (ever smoked, age at initiation, number of cigarettes smoked per day, daily smoking, and quit attempts).

Results: Overall, African American adolescents who reported dating and/or sexual violence were more likely to report that they had ever tried smoking (OR=1.99, 95% CI=1.47-2.68), to have been between 8-12 years old at first cigarette (OR=2.57, 95% CI=1.52-4.62), and to report smoking daily (OR=2.63, 95% CI=1.28-5.41).

Conclusions: This study represents one of the first attempts to examine the association between dating and sexual violence with multiple smoking behaviors, particularly among the subset of African American adolescents. Adolescents who have experienced dating and/or sexual violence may use smoking as a coping strategy, and interventions that seek to reduce smoking behaviors need to consider other behaviors that may serve as a replacement strategy.