摘要：We examined the association between perceived racial/ethnic harassment and tobacco use in 2129 African American college students in North Carolina. Age-adjusted and multivariate analyses evaluated the effect of harassment on daily and less-than-daily tobacco use. Harassed participants were twice as likely to use tobacco daily (odds ratio = 2.01; 95% confidence interval=1.94, 2.08) compared with those with no reported harassment experiences. Experiences of racial/ethnic harassment may contribute to tobacco use behaviors among some African American young adults. Tobacco use remains a leading preventable cause of death in the United States, particularly among African American individuals who experience disproportionately high rates of tobacco-related chronic disease incidence and mortality. 1– 3 For some, tobacco use may serve as a means of managing psychosocial stress. 4 This type of use may be especially common among African American individuals, 5– 7 who, throughout the life course, may encounter heightened levels of psychosocial stress from perceived racial discrimination. 8– 10 Perceived racial discrimination has been associated with adverse health-related outcomes, including tobacco use. 11– 15 Few studies have examined the health consequences of experiencing racial/ethnic harassment, a behavioral manifestation of racial discrimination. We suspected that as an acute, episodic, and intense psychosocial exposure, racial/ethnic harassment might be associated with tobacco use behaviors among African American young adults.
