Adolescent risk factors for late-onset smoking among African American young men

This study examined adolescent risk factors for late-onset cigarette smoking among African American males. Data came from the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal study of young men followed from age 13 to age 25. Individuals who began smoking at age 17 or older were compared with those who began smoking by age 16 and with those who never smoked in terms of risk factors measured in middle (at age 16) and late adolescence (from age 17 to 19). The study included 281 African American young men. A total of 18 psychological, behavioral, and environmental risk factors were measured at age 16, and 19 risk factors were measured between ages 17 and 19. Several risk factors at age 16 differed between early-onset and late-onset smokers or nonsmokers; however, in multivariate analyses, only peer drug use and truancy were significant. Among the age 16 risk factors, only truancy differentiated late-onset smokers from nonsmokers. Late adolescence behavioral risk factors were significantly related to late-onset smoking. However, only smoking marijuana and highest grade completed differentiated late-onset smokers from nonsmokers in multivariate analyses. Well-established predictors of cigarette smoking assessed in middle adolescence could identify individuals who already smoked but could not distinguish between those who would and would not begin smoking later. Late adolescence life transitions were not related to late-onset smoking. More research is needed to examine contextual factors in late adolescence and early adulthood that protect against and precipitate late-onset of smoking for African Americans.