Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe smoking patterns and level of nicotine dependence of two racial groups of pregnant adolescent smokers. This is empirical work, conducted on baseline information collected from 60 white and 63 black pregnant adolescents who participated in an ongoing smoking cessation intervention study. Self-report questionnaires were utilized to obtain information relevant to each subject's smoking patterns. The adolescent version of the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire was used to measure perceived levels of nicotine dependence. Results indicated that there were smoking pattern differences for these two groups. Nicotine dependence levels significantly differed (t = 3.98; p < 0.01) between the white and black girls. Additionally, white adolescents had a significantly higher mean level of daily nicotine intake than black adolescents (t = 2.78, p =. 006). The strong racial differences in smoking behaviors highlights the importance of tailoring smoking cessation interventions toward the unique needs of these two groups of pregnant adolescents.