Cherell Cottrell-Daniels; Josephine Mhende; Angelique Willis; Ayeesha Sayyad; Marsha Wright; Terry Pecháček; Dawn Aycock; Claire Spears

doi:10.29333/ajqr/16555

"It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic

Cherell Cottrell-Daniels ¹ ^* , Josephine Mhende ², Angelique Willis ³, Ayeesha Sayyad ², Marsha Wright ², Terry Pecháček ², Dawn Aycock ⁴, Claire Spears ²

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AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 9, Issue 3, pp. 204-228

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555

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Abstract

Low-income and African American populations experience severe tobacco-related health disparities. The current study explored perceptions and experiences of low-income African American adults who used tobacco during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the context of the recent sociopolitical climate. Twenty African American adults who smoked cigarettes (and at least one other combustible tobacco product) from metro Atlanta, GA completed in-depth interviews in April-May 2021. Interviews covered perceptions of various tobacco products; experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, recent protests and social justice issues; and changes in tobacco use related to these issues. Median age was 38.5 years. Most participants were male (65%) with an annual household income of less than $30,000 (55%). In addition to cigarettes, most (85%) used little cigars/cigarillos (LCCs); almost half used traditional cigars (45%) and half smoked hookah (50%). Overall, participants expressed low risk perceptions of LCCs compared to cigarettes, specifically when used with marijuana. Most (60%) reported increasing their tobacco use since the COVID-19 pandemic, which was attributed to higher stress related to the pandemic and sociopolitical climate. Specific stressors included financial insecurity, job loss, isolation, changes in living situation, uncertainty of post-pandemic life, and anger and sadness related to racism and social injustice. Multi-level interventions are needed to address structural determinants of health, systemic racism, social norms related to tobacco use, perceptions of various tobacco products, and strategies for coping with stress among low-income African Americans.

Keywords: Qualitative research, tobacco use, African Americans, stress, health disparities

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Citation

Cottrell-Daniels, C., Mhende, J., Willis, A., Sayyad, A., Wright, M., Pecháček, T., . . . Spears, C. (2025). "It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 9(3), 204-228. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555

Cottrell-Daniels, C., Mhende, J., Willis, A., Sayyad, A., Wright, M., Pecháček, T., . . . Spears, C. (2025). "It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 9(3), pp. 204-228. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555

Cottrell-Daniels C, Mhende J, Willis A, et al. "It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2025;9(3), 204-228. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555

Cottrell-Daniels, Cherell, Josephine Mhende, Angelique Willis, Ayeesha Sayyad, Marsha Wright, Terry Pecháček, Dawn Aycock, and Claire Spears. ""It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic". American Journal of Qualitative Research 2025 9 no. 3 (2025): 204-228. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555

Cottrell-Daniels, Cherell et al. ""It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic". American Journal of Qualitative Research, vol. 9, no. 3, 2025, pp. 204-228. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555

Cottrell-Daniels C, Mhende J, Willis A, Sayyad A, Wright M, Pecháček T, et al. "It's just been exhausting": African Americans' Tobacco Use and Other Experiences During the COVID-19 pandemic. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2025;9(3):204-28. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/16555