The Hip Hop peer crowd: An opportunity for intervention to reduce tobacco use among at-risk youth

Introduction: Peer crowds, peer groups with macro-level connections and shared norms that transcend geography and race/ethnicity, have been linked to risky health behaviors. Research has demonstrated that Hip Hop peer crowd identification, which is common among multicultural youth, is associated with increased risk of tobacco use. To address this, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products created Fresh Empire, the first national tobacco education campaign tailored for Hip Hop youth aged 12-17 who are multicultural (Hispanic, African American, Asian-Pacific Islander, or Multiracial). As part of campaign development, peer crowd (Hip Hop, Mainstream, Popular, Alternative, Country) and cigarette smoking status were examined for the first time with a nationally recruited sample.

Methods: Youth were recruited via targeted social media advertisements. Participants aged 13-17 (n = 5153) self-reported peer crowd identification via the I-Base Survey™ and cigarette smoking status. Differences in smoking status by peer crowd were examined using chi-square and followed up with z-tests to identify specific differences.

Results: Alternative youth were most at risk of cigarette smoking, followed by Hip Hop. Specifically, Hip Hop youth were significantly less likely to be Non-susceptible Non-triers than Popular, Mainstream, and Country youth, and more likely to be Experimenters than Popular and Mainstream youth.

Conclusions: Representative studies show that Alternative is relatively small compared to other high-risk crowds, such as the Hip Hop peer crowd. The current research underscores the potential utility of interventions tailored to larger at-risk crowds for campaigns like Fresh Empire.