Cigarette Smoking Status Among Latino/Hispanic Middle and High School Students in the United States

Although Latino/Hispanic adolescent substance use is a growing research area in the United States, there is little research examining the prevalence and factors associated with adolescent cigarette smoking status in this population. A nationally representative sample of 5,929 middle and high Latino/Hispanic students in the 2009 US National Youth Tobacco Survey was selected to assess the prevalence and various risk and protective factors associated with cigarette smoking status. Results revealed one in five (20%) were experimental smokers, nearly one in eleven (8.5%) were occasional smokers, and 4% were regular smokers. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that, controlling for demographics, family members' smoking, refusal to smoke, school absence, and exposure to tobacco marketing were associated with experimental smoking; awareness of harmful effects of secondhand smoking, refusal to smoke, exposure to tobacco advertising, and receptivity to tobacco marketing were associated with occasional smoking; and refusal to smoke, school absence, and receptivity to tobacco marketing were associated with regular smoking. This study highlights the need to integrate various risk and proactive factors associated with different smoking status into practices and policies for Latino/Hispanic adolescent smokers.