Cultural factors affecting adolescent smoking prevention (USC, Unger).
Unger, J.B., Johnson, C.A., Palmer, P.H., Chou, C-P., Ritt-Olson, A., Gallaher, P., Cen, S., & Azen, S. University of Southern California.

Adolescents' smoking behavior is influenced by cultural factors such as cultural values and exposure to the global media culture. The effectiveness of school-based smoking prevention curricula may vary across cultural contexts, as well. To address tobacco-related issues relevant to adolescents in culturally diverse Southern California schools, The University of Southern California TTURC developed a smoking prevention curriculum that incorporates the values and traditions of multiple cultures. We compared the multicultural curriculum to a standard curriculum that did not specifically address cultural issues and to a control condition (the schools' usual tobacco education). The effectiveness of the curricula varied according to the school context. In predominantly Hispanic schools, our new multicultural program was the most effective in preventing smoking initiation. In predominantly Asian and multicultural schools, a standard social-influences-based curriculum was most effective. Our efforts to address multicultural tobacco-related issues appear to have been effective and relevant in the context of the predominantly Hispanic school. Further research is needed to understand other tobacco-related issues that are salient in other school contexts.