Smoking Cessation, Smoking, Cigarette
Conditions
Keywords
pictorial warning labels, risk knowledge, emotion, memory, risk perceptions, quit intentions
Brief summary
Pictorial cigarette warning labels (PWLs) are thought to increase risk knowledge, but experimental research has not examined PWLs' longer term effects on memory for health risks. In this study, teens who have experimented with smoking or are considered vulnerable to smoking are repeatedly exposed to text-only vs. graphic warning labels paired with numeric risk information. This study will allow us to assess the extent to which reactions to warnings remain consistent over time and influence future smoking intentions. We will also assess the impact of graphic images on memory for smoking risk information presented in absolute and (a smokers lifetime risk of getting a smoking related disease), or relative (a smokers risk of getting a smoking related disease, compared to the risk of non-smokers) formats.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALtext-only PWL
control condition (no image)
BEHAVIORALgraphic PWL
pictorial warning
BEHAVIORALabsolute risk
Percentage risk information for smoking-related diseases for smokers
BEHAVIORALrelative risk
Percentage risk information for smoking-related diseases for smokers and non-smokers
Sponsors
University of Pennsylvania
Ohio State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* have ever tried smoking * report vulnerability to smoking (i.e., report that they might smoke in the next year or would try a cigarette if a friend offered one) * parents give permission to participate
Exclusion criteria
* not vulnerable to smoking (i.e., report they will definitely not smoke a cigarette in the next year and definitely would not try a cigarette if one was offered * parents do not provide permission to participate
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| numeric risk recognition | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants answered one multiple choice question about the numeric risk for smokers for each label (e.g., \_\_\_\_% of smokers die before age 85). For each question, there were four decoy responses. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| relative risk recognition | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants answered one multiple choice question about the numeric risk for smokers vs. nonsmokers for each health risk (e.g., a smoker is \_\_\_\_ as likely to die from heart disease as a nonsmoker). For each question, there were three decoy responses (e.g., for heart disease, response options were: about as likely, 1.75 times, 4.1 times, 10.4 times). |
| smoking risk perceptions | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants completed several scale items about how much risk they perceived smoking posed to them (e.g., If a person smokes at your age, how likely are they to get a life-threatening illness from smoking someday ? \[1=very unlikely; 5=extremely likely\]) |
| quit intentions (for next 30 days) | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants intentions to quit smoking; self-reported likelihood of smoking within the next 30 days (-3 = very unlikely, 3 = very likely) (only for those teens who currently smoked) |
| numeric risk recognition | measured after 6-week delay | Participants answered one multiple choice question about the numeric risk for smokers for each label (e.g., \_\_\_\_% of smokers die before age 85). For each question, there were four decoy responses. |
| risk recognition | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants were given a list of 9 warnings and asked to select which ones they'd been previously exposed to |
| feelings about smoking | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants completed several scale items about their feelings towards smoking (e.g., How good or bad do you feel about smoking? -2=very bad; +2=very good; How much do you feel confused about the harms vs. benefits of smoking? 0=not at all confused; 4=very confused) |
| quit intentions (for next year) | measured immediately following last exposure | Participants intentions to quit smoking; self-reported likelihood of smoking within the next year (-3 = very unlikely, 3 = very likely) only for those teens who currently smoked |
Outcome results
None listed