Table 1.

Description of the psychosocial measures used to assess each construct

Construct	Description
Linguistic acculturation	Assessed at baseline using 4 items from the Language Use subscale of the Brief Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (23), which ascertains language used when reading, speaking at home, with friends, and thinking. This scale had good internal reliability (alpha=0.76).
Risk taking	Assessed using two items “I look for dangerous things to do, just for excitement” and “If I got a chance to skydive from an airplane, I’d do it.” Responses were made on a four-point scale ranging from “just like me” to “not at all like me” and were averaged. For descriptive purposes the variable was categorized into “high” and “low” based on the median split, in the multivariable analysis it was entered as continuous. Higher scores indicate greater risk taking tendencies.
Outcome expectations	Assessed at baseline using a 7-item scale developed by Dalton et al (26). Examples include “I think smoking would help me to feel more comfortable at parties” and “I think smoking would make me look more mature.” Responses are made on a 4-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” We have found the scale to have good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86). For descriptive purposes the variable was categorized into “none” and “some” however, in the multivariable analysis it was entered as continuous. Higher scores indicate more positive perceived consequences ascribed to smoking behavior.
Household social influence	For each potential household member (i.e. father, mother, sister(s), brother(s), and other(s)) the participant was asked “Does your father smoke?” and “Do you live with your father?” To ensure the variable reflected social influence from all household members with whom the participant currently lived, we summed the number of smoking household members residing with participant. In the multivariable analyses this variable was coded as “none” and “at least one,” with “none” serving as the reference category.
Cognitive susceptibility	Combines behavioral intentions and peer influence and was assessed among never-smokers only (7). To be coded as “non-susceptible” participants responded “no” to “Do you think you will try a cigarette soon?”; and “definitely not” to “If one of your best friends were to offer you a cigarette would you smoke it?” & “Do you think you will be smoking cigarettes 1 year from now?” All other participants were coded as susceptible.