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328581
Adolescents' Perceptions of Addictive and Pharmacological Effects of Tobacco Products


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Maria Roditis, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Background: Patterns of tobacco use among adolescents are changing, with e-cigarette and cigar use increasing as cigarette use declines. Adolescents harbor misunderstanding about addictiveness and ease of cessation of cigarettes; however, this research has not extended to other tobacco products. This study assesses and compares adolescents’ perceptions of addictive and pharmacological effects, and benefits of cessation of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chew.

Methods: 387 adolescents were surveyed regarding perceptions of risks and benefits of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chew; how many quit attempts it would take to successfully quit each and how long it would take to become addicted to each. Descriptive statistics were conducted for all variables. Within-subjects ANOVAs were run to assess differences in adolescents’ ratings of addictive and pharmacological risks across tobacco products as well as differences in perceptions of risk given the following scenarios: they were lifelong users of a tobacco product, they started and quit, and they never used any tobacco product. 

Results: Adolescents rated perceived risk of addiction as lowest for e-cigarettes, followed by chew, cigars, then cigarettes (p < 0.01). Adolescents rated e-cigarettes least likely to confer pharmacological affects such as feeling high/buzzed or jittery/nervous, and cigarettes most likely to confer these effects (p < 0.01 for both). Similarly, adolescents felt it would take 17 attempts to quit cigarettes, 12 attempts to quit chew, 11 attempts to quit cigars, and 10 attempts to quit e-cigarettes (p < 0.01). Adolescents viewed quitting by age 30 as a means to reduce chances of tobacco-related illness for all products.

Conclusion: There are significant differences in adolescents’ perceptions related to risks of addiction across tobacco products, with adolescents consistently viewing cigarettes as more addictive than other tobacco products. Prevention and intervention programs need to do a better job messaging on the addictive potential of all tobacco products.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Assess and compare adolescents' perception of the addictive and pharmacological effects of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and chew.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Tobacco Control

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have extensive experience in the field of tobacco control as I have completed a 2 year postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF where I conducted research related to adolescent tobacco use. I am currently a postdoc at Stanford University where I continue to conduct research as part of an interdisciplinary team on the subject of adolescents' perceptions of risks and benefits of tobacco and tobacco related products.
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: 5006.0: Youth and young adult perceptions of tobacco use and risks