Probing the paradoxical pattern of cigarette smoking among African-Americans: low teenage consumption and high adult use.

Based on secondary analysis of the 1990 California Tobacco Survey, of 24,296 adult and 7,767 adolescent respondents, this study investigates the enigmatic results established by past research, of comparatively low prevalence rates of smoking among African-American adolescents and high use patterns for African-American adults. Findings support the crossover hypothesis claiming that more young adult White smokers successfully relinquish cigarette use than same aged African-Americans. When Whites and Blacks were grouped according to gender and age, findings showed African-American males between ages eighteen to twenty-four and females between ages twenty-five and forty-four were less likely to be among the ranks of former smokers than their same aged and gender White counterparts. The findings suggest that targeting these groups for more antismoking information and for opportunities to participate in smoking cessation programs may be helpful to reduce the higher smoking rates now found among African-American adults.