The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71566

David Weitzenkamp, PhD¹, Debra Holden, PhD², Matthew Farrelly, PhD¹, and Cheryl Healton, DrPH³. (1) Research Triangle Institute, 3040 Cornwallis Road, ResearchTriangle Park, NC 27709, 9195416852, weitzenkamp@rti.org, (2) Community Health Psychologist, Research Triangle Institute, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, (3) President and CEO, American Legacy Foundation, 1001 G Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20001

An effective smoking cessation media campaign not only targets the right demographic groups, but also accounts for selective attention and targets people who are ready to receive media messages. Messages aimed at those contemplating quitting may be useless to recent quitters, whereas the same messages may also miss those current smokers who have not considered quitting. This analysis looks at levels of media use among people at different stages of smoking cessation using data on 449 current and 581 former smokers from the American Legacy Foundation’s American Smoking and Health Survey (ASHES). Using the transtheoretical model (TTM) for smoking cessation, current and former smokers categorized into the five proposed stages of change of precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance, are compared in terms of access to and use of the media. After controlling for differences by gender, ethnicity, age, and insurance, people not yet planning to quit watch more television, read magazines less frequently, and seek less health information from the internet. Recent quitters seek more health information from the internet, and more frequently read newspapers than people earlier in the cessation process, as well as watching more television than long-time quitters. Although the efficacy of these messages is not evaluated here, selective attention measures and observed patterns of media reveal some potential exploitable differences among people who differ in readiness to cease smoking.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe media access of current and former smokers by stage of change.
• Describe media sources of health information for current and former smokers.

Keywords: Tobacco, Alternative Perinatal Services

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: American Legacy Foundation
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: RTI is Legacy's Research and Evaluation Coordinating Center