Correlates of Perceived Smoking Prevalence Among Korean American Emerging Adults

Perceived smoking prevalence, a strong predictor of actual smoking behavior, may be influenced by the ethnicity and gender of the reference group presented to Korean American emerging adults. Self-identifying Korean and Korean Americans aged 18–25 (N = 475), were invited to complete a 15–20 min online survey about their attitudes towards smoking. Predictors of perceived smoking prevalence were evaluated separately for four reference groups: Caucasian Americans, Korean Americans in general, Korean American men, and Korean American women. Respondents’ smoking status was associated with perceived smoking prevalence for all reference groups except Caucasian Americans, even among light smokers. Father’s smoking status was associated with perceived smoking prevalence for Korean American men, only among females respondents. Findings suggest that ethnicity and gender of both the reference group and respondents influence smoking rate estimates. Tailoring intervention content to the target population’s gender and ethnicity may be a way to enhance smoking prevention strategies.