219273 Young adults in bars: Smoking prevalence and psychological characteristics

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Pamela Ling, MD, MPH , Division of General Internal Medicine, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Jeff Jordan, MA , Rescue Social Change Group, San Diego, CA
Torsten B. Neilands, PhD , Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Stanton A. Glantz, PhD , Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Significance: Young adults (age 18-25) have disproportionately high smoking rates. “Psychographic” characteristics (attitudes, social groups, activities) used to develop young adult advertising can also be used to develop strategically targeted tobacco control interventions.

Objective: Describe the smoking prevalence among young adults in bars/clubs and define psychographic intervention targets.

Methods: We used venue date time sampling to recruit 3 cross-sectional samples of 1000 young adults attending bars in San Diego CA, Portland ME, and Albuquerque NM. We measured socio-cultural group affiliations, social concern, smoking attitudes, and cigarette use. Trendsetters were members of a single socio-cultural group with social concern scores in the highest quartile.

Results: Young adults recruited from bars smoking prevalence was 56% in CA, 51% in ME, and 47% in NM; state young adult smoking prevalence was 18% in CA, 26% in ME and 25% in NM. Among Trendsetters smoking prevalence was: 77% in CA, 56% in ME, and 53% in NM. Being a Trendsetter was significantly associated with current smoking (OR=2.13, 95% CI[1.57, 2.89] in CA, OR=2.00 [1.40, 2.86] in ME, OR=2.08 [1.60, 2.70] in NM) in multivariate analyses controlling for age, education, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and gender (p<0.001). Believing smoking is useful, tobacco industry denormalization attitudes, and recognizing the dangers of secondhand smoke were also significantly associated with smoking behavior.

Discussion: Bars and nightclubs are a nexus for high risk young adults. These key policy battlegrounds are a critical opportunity for public health interventions. We describe a social marketing intervention developed to reach trendsetting young adults.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how psychographic segmentation strategies are used to define targets for commercial and public health marketing campaigns 2. Compare smoking rates among young adults recruited from bars and nightclubs in three cities to the state young adult smoking rates 3. Demonstrate how market segmentation facilitates development of tailored counter-marketing campaigns for young adults

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator of this study. I am a published national expert on young adult smoking behavior and tobacco marketing. I have organized and chaired multiple sessions for the APHA ATOD section.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4227.0: 25th Anniversary of Alcohol Tobacco & Other Drugs Section: Youth Tobacco Policy & Innovative Strategies for Prevention and Cessation