Youth Prevention

Research

College students' exposure to tobacco marketing in nightclubs and bars
Researchers assessing college students’ exposure to tobacco marketing have found that students who went to bars and clubs in a city with a smokefree law were more likely to be targeted by tobacco marketing than students in a city that permitted smoking in bars. A random sample of students reporting that they had been to nightclubs and bars in either a city with a smokefree law or one without such a law were surveyed to determine how much exposure to tobacco marketing each received. The data showed that students in a smokefree city were more likely to be exposed to direct marketing strategies through being approached by tobacco marketers, being offered free gifts, and taking free gifts. The results indicate that even with smokefree laws in effect, extensive pro-tobacco messages and marketing in bars and nightclubs are still present. Read the abstract of the study, published in the Journal of American College Health.

Risk and protective factors for nicotine dependence in adolescence
A new study presented in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry indicates that early experiences with tobacco and family factors may play a role in adolescent nicotine dependence. Researchers conducted interviews over the course of two years with a cohort of 1,039 students in 6th through 10th grade and their mothers, gathering information on smoking status, nicotine dependence, and individual, parental, and peer factors. They found that the following characteristics had the greatest effects on nicotine dependence two years later: an initial pleasant association with tobacco use, baseline nicotine dependence, parental nicotine dependence, and extent of smoking at baseline. These findings signify the importance of both biological and social factors in nicotine addiction. The authors suggest that cessation efforts targeted to parents and educational programs teaching adolescents about nicotine dependence may encourage them to quit smoking. Click here to read more.

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International

Teens highly susceptible to tobacco promotion, advertising (Germany)
A recent study found that frequent exposure to cigarette advertising is linked to an increase in the odds that a teen will become a smoker. The researchers surveyed 2,102 never-smokers aged 10 to 17, showing them masked images of six cigarette ads and eight other commercial products to assess contact frequency and cued recall for the brands of cigarettes and products. The adolescents were re-surveyed after nine months, at which point 13% had initiated smoking. The results showed that the incidence of smoking initiation was associated with more frequent exposure to cigarette advertisements; adolescents with high exposure to cigarette ads were 46% more likely to initiate smoking than those with low exposure. Because the vast majority of smokers begin smoking as teenagers, strong restrictions to limit young people's exposure to tobacco advertisements could help to reduce smoking initiation. Click here to read more, or read the abstract of the study, published in Pediatrics.

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