back The influence of depressive symptoms on experimental smoking and intention to smoke in a diverse youth sample Elahe Nezami Numerous studies have shown associations between smoking and depression, but the generalizability of the relationship across ethnic groups remains unknown. This study assessed the association between depression and smoking intention and experimentation among adolescents from four ethnic groups in the Los Angeles area—White, Latino/Hispanic, Chinese/Chinese American, and Persian/Iranian. Over 800 seventh graders in the Los Angeles area completed measures of depressive symptoms, experimentation with smoking, intention to smoke, and sociodemographic covariates. Chinese/Chinese American students had the lowest levels of depressive symptoms, while Latinos/Hispanics had the highest levels of depressive symptoms. Latinos/Hispanics were also most likely to intend to smoke in the next year, and were the most likely to have started experimenting with cigarette smoking. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with intention to smoke even after controlling for language use acculturation, socioeconomic status (SES), gender and ethnicity. The association between depressive symptoms and intention to smoke did not vary significantly across ethnic groups. These results indicate that the association between depressive symptoms and adolescent smoking generalizes across diverse ethnic groups.