Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109942

Pamela Ling, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California San Francisco, Box 0320, San Francisco, CA 94143, 415/514-1492, pling@medicine.ucsf.edu, Torsten B. Neilands, PhD, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, 74 New Montgomery Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94105, and Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education, 530 Parnassus Ave., Suite 366, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390.

Background: Media campaigns promoting involvement with tobacco control issues protect against smoking initiation in adolescents. We examined associations between involvement with tobacco control issues and smoking behavior among young adults (age 18-29). Methods: Analysis of data from the 2002 California Tobacco Survey, a large population based survey which included 9413 young adults (58.3% response rate). Results: Overall, 27.4% of young adult surveyed had ever smoked 100 cigarettes in their lifetime, and 66.9% of ever smokers were current smokers (18.3% of young adults). Factor analysis of responses to eight items reflecting attitudes about tobacco control revealed two factors: involvement with tobacco control issues and mistrust of cigarette companies. In multivariate logistic regression, involvement with tobacco control was negatively associated with ever smoking (OR=0.27, 95%CI [0.22-0.32]) while controlling for demographics, depression, social group, exposure to smokers, and advertising receptivity. Involvement with tobacco control was also negatively associated with current smoking (OR=0.16 [0.13-0.19]). Mistrust of tobacco companies was not associated with smoking behavior. In a nested analysis of current smokers, involvement with tobacco control was strongly associated with intentions to quit smoking in the next six months or less (OR=4.53 [2.93-6.99]) controlling for demographics, exposure to smokers, and advertising receptivity. Conclusions: Involvement with tobacco control issues appears to be protective against smoking and associated with intentions to quit smoking among young adults. Media campaigns and interventions that encourage involvement in anti-smoking activities and taking a stand against the tobacco industry may decrease young adult smoking.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize importance of young adult smoking to the tobacco industry and to public health.
• Describe associations between anti-industry attitudes and smoking behavior among young adults.
• Identify two ways these findings can be guide smoking prevention and cessation programs designed to reduce young adult tobacco use.

Keywords: Tobacco Control, College Students

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.