Sociocultural correlates of cigarette smoking among African-American men versus women: Implications for culturally specific cessation interventions

Low socioeconomic status, racial discrimination, and low acculturation are the major sociocultural correlates of smoking among African-American adults. This study is the first to examine all three variables simultaneously and to analyze gender differences in their association with smoking. Results for the sample revealed that low education and low acculturation predicted smoking but racial discrimination did not. For women, low acculturation was the sole predictor of smoking, whereas for men, socioeconomic status variables were the sole predictors. This suggests that low acculturation may be associated with smoking among African-American women only. Hence, culturally specific smoking cessation programs designed for low-acculturated African-Americans might be effective for African-American women alone.