Ann Stueve ^1* Lydia O'Donnell ²

¹ Education Development Center, Inc.
² Education Development Center

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: astueve{at}edc.org.

	Abstract

We examined smoking and smoking cessation among 538 young inner-city women followed from early adolescence to young adulthood. Results showed that 14.3% of these young women had smoked in middle school, 26.4% had smoked in high school, and 21.9% had smoked at age 19 or 20 years, when many were rearing children, pregnant, or considering pregnancy. Young women who were raising children were more likely than those who were not to currently smoke or to have smoked in the past. Partner violence victimization was an independent risk factor for continued smoking. If improvements in smoking cessation rates are to be achieved, public health efforts must address factors underlying early and continued smoking.

Key Words: Maternal and Infant Health, Smoking Cessation, Tobacco, Urban Health, Women's Health