Ethnic Considerations in Risk Exposure and Cigarette Use Vulnerability among Eighth Grade Students in Virginia

The purpose of this study was to examine risk exposure and cigarette use vulnerability among 4,559 8th grade students enrolled in Virginia public schools. The study used 2005 statewide data from the Community Youth Survey (CYS) which assessed risks and protective factors for substance use. The findings indicated that Asian youth reported the lowest exposure to community, family, school, and peer/individual risks, but were most vulnerable in terms of past 30-day cigarette use. African-American youth reported significantly greater risk exposure than did their counterparts on more than half of the risks examined; however, they were substantially less vulnerable to the effects of these risks in comparison to their White, Latino, and Asian peers. The findings are discussed with regard to prevention interventions for adolescents from different ethnic groups.