Journal of Social Distressand the Homeless, Vol. 5, No. L 1996 Smoking Cessation with Themes and Approaches Jeffrey S. Nevid ~ Ethnic Minorities: Research investigating ethnic group differences in smoking prevalences, and smoking attitudes and behavior, is reviewed. Factors relating to the development of culturally sensitive smoking cessation interventions are discussed and several examples are provided of recent efforts to target smoking cessation initiatives toward minority communities. The problem of recruitment and retention of minority participants in health behavior research remains a vexing issue, which may best be addressed by incorporating smoking cessation interventions within regular health care, workplace, or school settings. KEY WORDS: smokingcessation;ethnicminorities;cultural factors. INTRODUCTION Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in the U.S. due to such diseases as cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and cardiovas- cular disease (USDHHS, 1982, 1989, 1992). Despite overall declines in smoking prevalences in the general population since the landmark 1964 Surgeon General's report on smoking, antismoking campaigns have gener- ally been less effective in promoting smoking cessation among women and ethnic minority groups (Fiore, Novotny, Pierce, Jatziandreu, Patel, & Davis, 1989). Cigarette companies have also increasingly targeted their advertising efforts toward minority communities. Smoking has also become increasingly associated with lower socioeconomic status. Given these factors,-it is not surprising that smoking prevalences are greater among some groups of eth- nic minorities, especially among groups that are disproportionately repre- 1Departmentof Psychology, St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica.NY 11439. 39 1053-0789/96/0100-0039509.50/0 © 1996 Human Sciences Press, Inc.