Open AccessContinued Smoking and Smoking Cessation Among Urban Young Adult Women: Findings From the Reach for Health Longitudinal Study
Author(s) -
Ann Stueve,
Lydia O’Donnell
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2006.109397
Subject(s) - medicine , young adult , public health , longitudinal study , smoking cessation , pregnancy , smoke , environmental health , demography , risk factor , gerontology , physics , nursing , pathology , sociology , biology , meteorology , genetics
We examined smoking and smoking cessation among 538 young inner-city women who had been followed from early adolescence to young adulthood. Results showed that 14.3% of these young women had smoked in middle school, 26.4% had smoked in high school, and 21.9% had smoked at age 19 or 20 years, when many were rearing children, pregnant, or considering pregnancy. Young women who were raising children were more likely than those who were not to currently smoke or to have smoked in the past. Partner violence victimization was an independent risk factor for continued smoking. If improvements in smoking cessation rates are to be achieved, public health efforts must address factors underlying early and continued smoking.