SEATTLE, May 15, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Fewer black youths than whites begin
smoking as adolescents, but black adults are more likely to smoke than white
adults, U.S. researchers say.
The study, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, suggests lower
rates of smoking among black teens may be the result of black parents setting
concrete guidelines about substance use and establishing clearly defined
consequences for not following those guidelines.
Lead author Martie Skinner of the University of Washington and colleagues say
that teens who associated with those who were in trouble at school, engaged in
delinquent behavior, or used alcohol or marijuana, were more likely to smoke.
"This study is important because we looked at how parental guidelines affected
peer influences and smoking over a three-year period from the eighth to 10th
grades," Skinner says in a statement. "Parents can have a strong influence on
smoking behavior."
The study finds that 15 percent of the black teens reported smoking in the 10th
grade compared to 22 percent of the white teens. Black parents were
significantly more likely to report guidelines and consequences for substance
use.
Black and white teens whose parents smoked reported higher levels of smoking
than teens whose parents were non-smokers, the study says.
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