Race differences in factors relating to smoking initiation

To investigate race differences in retrospectively-reported early smoking experiences, we studied African-American (n = 48) and Caucasian (n = 155) current smokers who participated in a study designed to identify phenotypic and genotypic factors associated with smoking. Compared with Caucasian smokers, African-American smokers were less educated (mean ± s.e.m.: 13.3 ± 0.25 vs. 14.3 ± 0.16; p < .01), had higher BMI (28.9 ± 1.06 vs. 26.7 ± 0.52; p < .05), and smoked significantly fewer cigarettes/day (14.1 ± 1.00 vs. 18.4 ± 0.74; p < .01). Ninety percent of African-American smokers consumed menthol cigarettes, as opposed to 25% of Caucasian smokers. African-American smokers were significantly older than Caucasian smokers upon initial smoking experimentation (17.4 ± 1.1 vs. 14.7 ± 0.3; p < .05) and onset of regular smoking (19.7 ± 0.9 vs. 17.4 ± 0.4; p < .05). African-American smokers were significantly more likely than Caucasian smokers to endorse global pleasurable sensations (48% vs. 30%; p < .05), “pleasurable rush or buzz” (62% vs. 43%; p < .05), and “relaxing” (45% vs. 27%; p < .05) as early experiences with smoking, whereas Caucasian smokers were marginally more likely to report dizziness and difficulty inhaling (61% vs. 45%; p < .10 and 48% vs. 31%; p < .10, respectively). Caucasian smokers were significantly more likely to endorse friends (6.9 ± 0.2 vs. 4.8 ± 0.4; p < .0001) and “perk me up” (4.2 ± 0.3 vs. 3.1 ± 0.4; p < .05) and marginally more likely to endorse buzz (4.2 ± 0.2 vs. 3.4 ± 0.5; p < .10) as reasons for starting to smoke. Further research is needed to determine the relative contributions of genetic, developmental, and socio-cultural factors to these findings.