Daily and Nondaily Smoking Varies by Acculturation among English-Speaking, US Latino Men and Women

Abstract

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Higher smoking prevalence and quantity (cigarettes per day) has been linked to acculturation in the United States among Latinas, but not Latino men. Our study examines variation between a dif­ferent and increasingly important target behavior, smoking level (nondaily vs daily) and acculturation by sex.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An online English-language sur­vey was administered to 786 Latino smokers during July through August 2012. The Brief Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans–II (ARSMA-II) and other accul­turation markers were used. Multinomial lo­gistic regression models were implemented to assess the association between smoking levels (nondaily, light daily, and moderate/ heavy daily) with acculturation markers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Greater ARMSA-II scores (rela­tive risk ratio, <em>RRR</em>=.81, 95% CI: .72-.91) and being born inside the United States (<em>RRR</em>=.42, 95% CI: .24-.74) were associated with lower relative risk of nondaily smoking. Greater Latino orientation (<em>RRR</em>=1.29, 95% CI: 1.11-1.48) and preference for Spanish language (<em>RRR</em>=1.06, 95% CI: 1.02-1.10) and media (<em>RRR</em>=1.12, 95% CI: 1.05-1.20) were associated with higher relative risk of nondaily smoking. The relationship between acculturation and smoking level did not differ by sex.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study found that among both male and female, English-speaking Latino smokers, nondaily smoking was associated with lower acculturation, while daily smoking was linked with higher ac­culturation.</p><p><em>Ethn Dis. </em>2018.28(2):105-114; doi:10.18865/ed.28.2.105.</p>