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Objectives. We examined the pathways to smoking cessation between late adolescence and young adulthood. Methods. We obtained data from a sample of urban African American and Puerto Rican young adults (N=242), mean age 19 years, who reported tobacco use and determined cessation rates between late adolescence and young adulthood. We used structural equation modeling to examine the pathways of positive family relations, family smoking, maladaptive personality attributes, and substance use to smoking cessation. Results. A mediational pathway linked the absence of positive family relations with maladaptive personality attributes, both of which were related to substance use and ultimately smoking cessation. Substance use mediated the path between family smoking and smoking cessation. Conclusions. The results suggest that a positive relationship with one's parents, less smoking in the family, conventional personality attributes, and little or no other substance use facilitate smoking cessation among young adults. (Am J Public Health. 2007;97:1444-1448. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2006.101212)

The major aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between adolescent smoking involvement and self-reported psychological and physical outcomes in young adulthood. Participants included 333 African Americans and 329 Puerto Ricans who were surveyed in 1990 in their New York City schools and interviewed in 1995 and 2000-2001, primarily in their homes. The psychological outcomes included ego integration, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal difficulty. The physical health measures included a general health rating, number of illnesses, and symptoms of ill health. Also, three scales measured problems due to alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use. Smoking involvement varied by age, sex, and ethnicity but not by socioeconomic status nor by late adolescent parental status. Analysis showed that the relationships between adolescent smoking involvement and psychological and physical health problems in young adulthood remained significant even with control on demographic factors, earlier levels of the outcome variables, and marijuana use. The relationships between smoking behavior and problems with alcohol, marijuana and other illicit drug use were particularly strong. Thus, adolescent smoking seems to have a wide range of clinical implications for young adulthood.

Addressing recent theoretical debates, this study examined the differences in extended family integration among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Whites, as well as the importance of culture and structure in explaining these differences. Our findings showed Whites and Latinos/as have distinctive patterns of extended family integration: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans exhibited higher rates of coresidence and proximate living than Whites; Whites had greater involvement in financial support than Mexicans or Puerto Ricans, but Mexicans were more involved in instrumental help. Structural factors such as income, education, and nuclear family composition explained much of these ethnic differences. The study's findings suggest that policy should emphasize the unmet needs in Latino/a communities and the role of extended families. Key Words: contact, coresidence, family integration, kin, Latino/a, proximity, support.

This study investigates the relationship between maternal skin tone and low birth weight among Puerto Ricans, a group with a complex ancestry and skin tones that range from very light to very dark. Using data from a representative sample of Puerto Rican mothers, we assess whether skin tone has different implications for low birth weight in three geographic areas (Puerto Rico; New York City; other eastern states). The analysis shows that skin tone is unrelated to low birth weight in Puerto Rico and New York City. However, in the other eastern states in our sample, mothers with dark skin have a high risk of bearing a low birth-weight infant, relative to mothers with light skin. We interpret our findings in light of differences in the social meaning of phenotypic differences across locales. Keywords: Infant health; Skin tone; Puerto Rico; USA

Using case studies from interviews and focus groups, this article reconceptualizes the meaning of race and racism by examining how members of a multiracial group, Puerto Ricans. experience racism. The authors argue that the social construction of race involves ethnic and global factors such as national origin, culture, language, the historical relationship between colonial powers and their political subjects, and race. The totality of these factors amount to a racial matrix of domination resulting in ethnoracism. Findings suggest that within the current climate of 'colorblind' racism, ethnoracism is the mechanism through which the current racial order will be maintained. Keywords: ethnoracism; ethnicity; race; Puerto Ricans; Latinos

This study assesses the relationship of multiple drug risks, Puerto Rican identity, and drug use. In addition, the risk/protective and protective/protective paradigms for examining interactive effects of ethnic identity and drug risks on drug use were assessed. Structured interviews were conducted with 555 Puerto Rican males and females whose mean age was 19. Each risk and two ethnic variables were related to drug use. Regressions showed that cultural knowledge, being culturally active, group attachment, and identification with Puerto Ricans offset the impact of risks on drug use. Ethnic variables also enhanced the protective effect of other protective factors. These results substantiate expanding risk-buffering models to include ethnic identity and the protective role of ethnic identity for Puerto Rican youth., Recently, increased attention has been paid to the role of ethnic or cultural identity, psychosocial factors, and drug use among Puerto Rican youngsters (Szalay, Canino, & Vilov, 1993; Terrell, 1993). [...]