There have been exceedingly few studies examining the mechanisms underlying smoking cessation among Spanish-speaking Mexican American (MA) smokers, and to the best of our knowledge, none that have: (a) investigated the influence of neighborhoods, or (b) included the use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques to investigate the acute intrapersonal and contextual influences on the process of quitting. Thus, the proposed study will make a unique contribution to the field, as well as address key recommendations from major reports on reducing smoking among minorities and addressing health disparities.
The primary specific aims are to:
1. Examine neighborhood- and individual-level effects (e.g. genetics, psychological, social factors, etc.) on the intrapersonal and contextual antecedents of daily experience, temptations, and smoking lapses among Spanish-speaking MA smokers during a quit attempt.
2. Examine neighborhood- and individual-level effects (e.g. genetics, psychological, social factors, etc.) on standard questionnaire assessments both pre- and postcessation.
3. Examine whether individual-level factors (e.g. genetics, psychological, social factors, etc.) mediate or moderate the impact of neighborhood factors on outcome measures.
4. Collect and store extracted DNA for use in future research.
The secondary specific aim is to:
1. Examine the relations of relapse status with neighborhood factors (e.g. genetics, psychological, social factors, etc.), individual differences, and micro-level variables.
In our previous research among the general population of Spanish-speaking Hispanic smokers, 55% of our sample was male. Thus, we anticipate that we will see a similar proportion among Spanish-speaking Mexican-American smokers. However, because our goal is to recruit approximately equal numbers of men and women into this study, we will evaluate the gender distribution of our enrolled sample at least monthly and adjust our recruitment strategies if either men or women comprise greater than 60% of the sample. Should either men or women comprise greater than 60% of the sample, we will close recruitment for that group until the proportions are again balanced at approximately 50%. We have extensive experience in implementing procedures for recruiting specific numbers of smoker subgroups.
We will stratify our sampling based on Census tract with the goal of recruiting an approximately equal proportion of each Census tract represented in the Mexican-American cohort. |