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The effect of immigrant generation on smoking.
Dolores Acevedo-Garcia1, Jocelyn Pan, Hee-Jin Jun
1Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA. dacevedo@hsph.harvard.edu
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|June 23, 2005
Summary
Foreign-born immigrants and second-generation immigrants with two foreign-born parents smoke less daily. This protective effect against daily smoking is strongest in females, minorities, and low-income individuals.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Sociology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Immigrants in the US often have lower socioeconomic status (SES), a known risk factor for tobacco use.
- While tobacco use is a health risk for low SES groups, some immigrant populations exhibit lower rates than native-born counterparts.
- Immigrant assimilation is linked to increased tobacco use, suggesting generational differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between immigrant generation and daily smoking behaviors in the United States.
- To identify if immigrant generation status influences daily smoking prevalence after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors.
- To explore potential protective factors associated with immigrant status against daily smoking.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the 1995-96 Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS), a national dataset.
- Conducted multivariate logistic regression analysis on a sample of 221,798 individuals.
- Controlled for variables including age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (income, education, occupation), and central-city residence.
Main Results:
- Foreign-born individuals had the lowest odds of being daily smokers (95% CI: 0.54-0.62).
- Second-generation immigrants with two foreign-born parents also showed significantly lower odds of daily smoking (95% CI: 0.64-0.77).
- This protective effect was more pronounced in females, racial/ethnic minorities, and low-income individuals, particularly for foreign-born and second-generation immigrants with two immigrant parents.
Conclusions:
- Being foreign-born or second-generation with two immigrant parents confers a protective effect against daily smoking.
- Factors such as differing tobacco epidemic stages, the 'healthy immigrant effect,' and family anti-smoking socialization may explain these findings.
- Understanding these generational differences is crucial for targeted public health interventions regarding tobacco use among immigrant populations.