Youth perception of harm and addictiveness of tobacco products: Findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (Wave 1)

Authors

David R. Strong, Moores Cancer Center University of California & University of California, San DiegoFollow
Karen Messer, Moores Cancer Center University of California & University of California, San Diego
Martha White, Moores Cancer Center University of California & University of California, San Diego
Yuyan Shi, University of California, San Diego,
Madison Noble, Moores Cancer Center University of California & University of California, San Diego
David B. Portnoy, National Institutes of Health, Rockville
Alexander Persoskie, National Institutes of Health, Rockville
Annette R. Kaufman, ational Institutes of Health, Rockville,
Kelvin Choi, National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Charles Carusi, Westat, Rockville
Maansi Bansal-Travers, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Andrew Hyland, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
John Pierce, Moores Cancer Center University of California & University of California, San Diego

Date of this Version

2019

Document Type

Article

Citation

Addictive Behaviors 92 (2019) 128–135

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.12.005

Comments

2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract

Purpose: We provide a US national assessment of youth perceptions of the harm and addictiveness of six separate tobacco products, identifying a continuum of perceived harm associated with a range of products in relation to patterns of current use, former use, and susceptibility to use tobacco products.

Methods: We evaluated youth respondents (N=13,651) ages 12–17 from Wave 1 (2013–2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. Analyses (2015–2016) focused on refining mea- sures of perceived harm for each product and delineating youth characteristics (demographic, tobacco use status) associated with beliefs about the harmfulness and addictiveness of tobacco products.

Results: Cigars, hookah and e-cigarettes were each perceived as having significantly lower harm (p's < 0.05) than smokeless products, with the lowest ratings of harmfulness and addictiveness observed for hookah and e- cigarettes (p's < 0.001). Incrementally lower levels of harm and addictiveness perceptions were observed among youth at increasing risk for tobacco use (p's < 0.05).

Conclusions: Among U.S. youth, lower perceptions of harm and addictiveness of tobacco products were asso- ciated with susceptibility to use tobacco and patterns of tobacco product use. Future longitudinal assessments from the PATH Study can provide key information on youth development of perceptions of harm and addic- tiveness and influences on patterns of tobacco use.