Abstract
To better characterize the relation of acculturation, based on language use, to smoking status among Mexican-Americans, a large study sample from an ongoing cohort of Mexican-American households in Texas was stratified into current smokers and non-smokers. Four language-use groups were created based on Low/High use of Spanish and English, representing different degrees of acculturation. Participants who reported high English but low Spanish use had the highest smoking prevalence (20.1%), followed by High English/High Spanish (13.6%), Low English/High Spanish (8.7%), and Low English/Low Spanish (6.4%). Current smokers were more likely to be male, have lower than high school education, currently consume alcohol or had consumed alcohol but quit, and report low Spanish/high English use. Consistent with recent models of acculturation, individuals can differ both in their maintenance of the native language and adoption of a new language and both dimensions are important in predicting tobacco use.
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