Kian Kamyab

Promotion of Smoking Cessation with Emotional and/or Graphic Antismoking Advertising

BACKGROUND Antismoking campaigns can be effective in promoting cessation, but less is known about the dose of advertising related to behavioral change among adult smokers, which types of messages are most effective, and effects on populations disproportionately affected by tobacco use. PURPOSE To assess the impact of emotional and/or graphic antismoking TV advertisements on quit attempts in the past 12 months among adult smokers in New York State. METHODS Individual-level data come from the 2003 through 2010 New York Adult Tobacco Surveys. The influence of exposure to antismoking advertisements overall, emotional and/or graphic advertisements, and other types of advertisements on reported attempts to stop smoking was examined. Exposure was measured by self-reported confirmed recall and market-level gross rating points. Analyses conducted in Spring 2012 included 8780 smokers and were stratified by desire to quit, income, and education. RESULTS Both measures of exposure to antismoking advertisements are positively associated with an increased odds of making a quit attempt among all smokers, among smokers who want to quit, and among smokers in different household income brackets (<

Effectiveness of a National Media Campaign to Promote Parent–Child Communication About Sex

30,000 and ≥

The Influence of Antismoking Television Advertisements on Cessation by Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Mental Health Status

30,000) and education levels (high-school degree or less education and at least some college education). Exposure to emotional and/or graphic advertisements is positively associated with making quit attempts among smokers overall and by desire to quit, income, and education. Exposure to advertisements without strong negative emotions or graphic images had no effect. CONCLUSIONS Strongly emotional and graphic antismoking advertisements are effective in increasing population-level quit attempts among adult smokers.

Public support for graphic health warning labels in the U.S.

Background. Although there is debate on the effectiveness of youth-focused abstinence education programs, research confirms that parents can influence their children’s decisions about sexual behavior. To leverage parent-based approaches to adolescent sexual health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) to encourage parent–child communication about sex. Previous experimental studies have found the campaign to be efficacious in increasing parent–child communication. But to date, the actual reach of the campaign and its real-world effectiveness in promoting parent–child communication has not been established. The present study addresses this gap. Method. The authors surveyed 1,804 parents of 10- to14-year-old children from the nationally representative Knowledge Networks online panel. The survey included questions about parents’ awareness of PSUNC ads and parent–child communication behaviors. The authors also analyzed market-level data on campaign gross rating points, a measure of market-level intensity of PSUNC advertising in the United States. Multivariate regressions were used to examine the association between PSUNC exposure and a three-item scale for parent–child communication. Results. Overall, 59.4% of parents in the sample reported awareness of PSUNC. The authors found that higher market-level PSUNC gross rating points were associated with increased parent–child communication. Similar relationships were observed between self-reported awareness of PSUNC and increased frequency of communication and recommendations to wait. These associations were particularly strong among mothers. Conclusions. This study provides the first field-based data on the real-world reach and effectiveness of PSUNC among parents. The data support earlier experimental trials of PSUNC, showing that the campaign is associated with greater parent–child communication, primarily among mothers. Further research may be needed to develop additional messages for fathers.

Movie smoking and youth initiation: parsing smoking imagery and other adult content.

Disparities in tobacco use and smoking cessation by race/ethnicity, education, income, and mental health status remain despite recent successes in reducing tobacco use. It is unclear to what extent media campaigns promote cessation within these population groups. This study aims to (1) assess whether exposure to antitobacco advertising is associated with making a quit attempt within a number of population subgroups, and (2) determine whether advertisement type differentialy affects cessation behavior across subgroups. We used data from the New York Adult Tobacco Survey (NY-ATS), a cross-sectional, random-digit-dial telephone survey of adults aged 18 or older in New York State conducted quarterly from 2003 through 2011 (N = 53,706). The sample for this study consists of 9,408 current smokers from the total NY-ATS sample. Regression methods were used to examine the effect of New York State’s antismoking advertising, overall and by advertisement type (graphic and/or emotional), on making a quit attempt in the past 12 months. Exposure to antismoking advertising was measured in two ways: gross rating points (a measure of potential exposure) and self-reported confirmed recall of advertisements. This study yields three important findings. First, antismoking advertising promotes quit attempts among racial/ethnic minority smokers and smokers of lower education and income. Second, advertising effectiveness is attributable in part to advertisements with strong graphic imagery or negative emotion. Third, smokers with poor mental health do not appear to benefit from exposure to antismoking advertising of any type. This study contributes to the evidence about how cessation media campaigns can be used most effectively to increase quit attempts within vulnerable subgroups. In particular, it suggests that a general campaign can promote cessation among a range of sociodemographic groups. More research is needed to understand what message strategies might work for those with poor mental health.

Exploring the potential for a mass media campaign to influence support for a ban on tobacco promotion at the point of sale

BACKGROUND In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was required to mandate that graphic health warning labels be placed on cigarette packages and advertisements. PURPOSE To assess public support in the U.S. for graphic health warning labels from 2007 to 2012. METHODS Data from 17,498 respondents from 13 waves of the National Adult Tobacco Survey, a list-assisted random-digit-dial survey, were used. Overall support for graphic health warning labels, as well as support by smoking status, and by sociodemographics and smoker characteristics are estimated. Analyses were conducted in 2014. RESULTS Since 2007, a majority of the public overall has been in favor of labels. Support increased significantly among the public overall and among non-smokers from 2007 through 2009 (p<0.001), after which it remained flat. Among smokers, support levels increased from 2007 through 2011 (p<0.001), but decreased significantly from 2011 through 2012 (p<0.001). Support was high regardless of smoking status, although among smokers, support varied by level of smoking, interest in quitting, and whether labels were seen as an important reason to quit. Support varied by sociodemographic characteristics, particularly among smokers. Younger, less-affluent, and less-educated smokers supported labels at higher levels than their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS A majority of U.S. residents support graphic health warning labels for cigarette packs, though support among smokers declined after 2011.

Repeated exposure to media messages encouraging parent-child communication about sex: Differential trajectories for mothers and fathers

Objectives To isolate the independent influence of exposure to smoking and other adult content in the movies on youth smoking uptake. Methods We used discrete time survival analysis to quantify the influence of exposure to smoking and other adult content in the movies on transitioning from (1) closed to open to smoking; (2) never to ever trying smoking; and (3) never to ever hitting, slapping, or shoving someone on two or more occasions in the past 30 days. The latter is a comparative outcome, hypothesized to have no correlation with exposure to smoking in the movies. Results Assessed separately, both exposure to smoking imagery and exposure to adult content were associated with increased likelihood of youth becoming open to smoking (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04–1.15 and OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.04–1.17) and having tried smoking (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.00–1.12 and OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.00–1.13). Both measures were also separately associated with aggressive behavior (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04–1.14 and OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04–1.15). A very high correlation between the two measures (0.995, p<0.000) prevented an assessment of their independent effects on smoking initiation. Conclusion Although exposure to smoking in the movies is correlated with smoking susceptibility and initiation, the high correlation between exposure to smoking in the movies and other adult content suggests that more research is needed to disentangle their independent influence on smoking.

Perceptions of the relative harmfulness of marijuana and alcohol among adults in Oregon

This study explores whether exposure to advertisements that focus on the negative effects of tobacco industry advertising and promotion at the point of sale (anti-POS advertising) influence: (i) attitude toward POS advertising; (ii) perceived impact of POS advertising on youth smoking; and (iii) support for a ban on tobacco promotion at the POS among adult non-smokers in New York. Data are from a split-sample, experimental study, using an online media tracking survey with embedded TV, radio and print advertising. Exposure to anti-POS advertising was associated with higher odds of holding a negative attitude toward POS advertising (OR 2.43, P < 0.001) and support for a ban on tobacco promotion at the POS (OR 1.77, P < 0.05), but not with perceived impact of POS tobacco advertisements on youth smoking. Findings suggest the possibility that a mass media campaign could be used to influence public attitude toward POS advertising and support for a ban on tobacco promotion at the POS.

Promoting calls to a quitline: quantifying the influence of message theme, strong negative emotions and graphic images in television advertisements

Purpose. To examine changes in parent-child communication related to sexual behavior after exposure to public health messages. Design. Randomized, controlled trial that was part of precampaign message testing. Setting. Exposure occurred online or through DVDs mailed to participants and viewed on their personal computers. Data collection occurred via a secure Web site. Patients. Participants included parents (n = 1969) living with a child age 10 to 14 years drawn from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. Intervention. Treatment participants were exposed to video, audio, and print advertisements that promoted the benefits of speaking to their children early and often about delaying initiation of sexual activity; messages also directed parents to an informational Web site. Measures. The dependent variable assessed frequency of parent-child communication related to sexual behavior. The primary independent variable was treatment assignment. Analysis. Longitudinal growth modeling that included five waves of data. Results. The trajectory of growth over time differed between fathers in the treatment group and fathers in the control group (F [1, 2357] = 4.15; p < .042), indicating more frequent communication among treatment fathers than among control fathers. Trajectories did not differ between mothers in treatment and control groups. Conclusion. This study demonstrates that father-child and mother-child communication patterns differ over time in response to public health messages. Findings have implication for researchers developing health marketing campaigns.

Impact of a parent-child sexual communication campaign: results from a controlled efficacy trial of parents

This study documents perceptions of the relative harmfulness of marijuana and alcohol to a persons health among adults in Oregon just before the first legal sales of marijuana for recreational use. We surveyed 1941 adults in Oregon in September 2015. Respondents were recruited using an address-based sampling (ABS) frame (n = 1314) and social media advertising (n = 627). Respondents completed paper surveys (ABS-mail, n = 388) or online surveys (ABS-online, n = 926; social media, n = 627). We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to examine perceptions of the relative harmfulness of marijuana and alcohol by sample characteristics, including substance use. About half of adults in Oregon (52.5%) considered alcohol to be more harmful to a persons health than marijuana. A substantial proportion considered the substances equally harmful (40.0%). Few considered marijuana to be more harmful than alcohol (7.5%). In general, respondents who were younger, male, and not Republican were more likely than others to consider alcohol more harmful than marijuana. Respondents who were older, female, and Republican were more likely to consider marijuana and alcohol equally harmful. Most individuals who reported using both marijuana and alcohol (67.7%) and approximately half of those who used neither substance (48.2%) considered alcohol to be more harmful than marijuana. Perceptions about the relative harmfulness of marijuana and alcohol may have implications for public health. As state lawmakers develop policies to regulate marijuana, it may be helpful to consider the ways in which those policies may also affect use of alcohol and co-use of alcohol and marijuana.