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Cancer Control Research

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent immigrants to the U.S. constitute an increasingly significant demographic group and overall have lower socioeconomic status (SES) than the native-born. It is known that tobacco use is a major health risk for groups with low SES. On the other hand, there is some evidence that within certain ethnic/racial groups in the U.S., tobacco use is lower among the foreign-born than among the US-born, and that tobacco use is positively correlated with measures of immigrant assimilation. Previous analyses of tobacco use among immigrants have been fragmentary, i.e. have focused on a single state/community, a single national origin/ethnic group, and/or convenience samples. Research on tobacco use among immigrants is urgently needed, given its implications for preventative action and cancer incidence reduction. We seek to examine tobacco outcomes among immigrants to the United States, and to investigate the role of assimilation in these outcomes, using the Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS, 1995-96), a data set that is representative at the national and state level. The combination of information on tobacco outcomes and immigrant status makes the CPS a uniquely valuable resource for studying tobacco outcomes among the U.S. immigrant population. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous national-level study of tobacco outcomes among immigrants. The specific aims of this study are to assess the role of assimilation in tobacco use; attitudes towards tobacco; and household, workplace, and community tobacco control among immigrants to the U.S. We will also examine whether age, gender, race/ethnicity, SES, state-level tobacco control policy, and smoking prevalence and tobacco control in the country of origin mediate (moderate) the effect of assimilation on tobacco outcomes. The proposed multilevel logistic regression analyses are grounded on the segmented assimilation theory and the context of reception framework.