Socio-culturally specific stress and coping factors and smoking among African-American women. Free

B50

Objective: Smoking cessation is critical to reduce the health disparate status of African American (AA) women, however studies reveal that AA women are less likely to quit. Socio-culturally congruent research is needed that provides explanations as to why AA women choose to smoke in order to develop appropriate cessation interventions for this population. The purpose of the study was to determine whether socio-cultural stress and coping factors influence smoking among AA women. Method: 198 AA females completed the John Henry Scale for Active Coping, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Index of Race-Related Stress and an investigator-developed demographic and smoking survey. Results: Significant associations between number of race-related stress events and perceived general stress (p<.001) and between perceived general stress and John Henry active coping strategies (p<.01) were found. Percieved general stress predicted smoking (p<.001). John Henry active coping also predicted smoking (p<.05). However, when both perceived general stress and John Henry active coping strategies were included in the analyses, only perceived general life stress was significantly predictive of smoking (p<.0005). Conclusion: Stress is a contributor to smoking among AA women and particular socio-cultural factors may account for stress and should be addressed in future intervention programs for AA women.