Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Oct;39(4):465-72.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.05.011.

Association of cigarette smoking and media literacy about smoking among adolescents

Brian A Primack  1 , Melanie A Gold, Stephanie R Land, Michael J Fine
Affiliations

Association of cigarette smoking and media literacy about smoking among adolescents

Brian A Primack et al. J Adolesc Health. 2006 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether media literacy concerning tobacco use is independently associated with two clinically relevant outcome measures in adolescents: current smoking and susceptibility to smoking.

Methods: We asked high school students aged 14-18 years to complete a survey that included a validated 18-item smoking media literacy (SML) scale, items assessing current smoking and susceptibility to future smoking, and covariates shown to be related to smoking. We used logistic regression to assess independent associations between the two outcome measures and SML.

Results: Of the 1211 students who completed the survey, 19% reported current smoking. Controlling for all potential confounders of smoking, we found that an increase of one point (out of 10) in SML was independently associated with an odds ratio for smoking of .84 (95% confidence interval [CI] .71-.99). Compared with students below the median score on the SML scale, students above the median had an odds ratio for smoking of .57 (95% CI .37-.87). Of the students who were nonsmokers, 40% were classified as susceptible to future smoking. Controlling for all potential confounders of smoking, we found that an increase of one point (out of 10) was independently associated with and an odds ratio for smoking susceptibility of .68 (95% CI .58-.79). Compared with students below the median SML, students above the median SML had an odds ratio for smoking susceptibility of .49 (95% CI .35-.68).

Conclusions: In this sample of high school students, higher SML is independently associated with reduced current smoking and reduced susceptibility to future smoking.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of smoking media literacy (SML) scores with overlaid normal curve.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Association between smoking media literacy (SML) score and current smoking (top panel) and association between SML score and susceptibility to smoking (bottom panel) in adolescents. Data are based on raw scores in the 18-item SML scale, on self-report of current smoking (smoking in the past 30 days), and on responses to the three-item smoking susceptibility scale. Plots were created using LOWESS (locally-weighted scatter-plot smoothing) techniques in Stata 9.0.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004;291:1238–45. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing Tobacco Use among Young People, A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 1994.
    1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Trends in Initiation of Substance Abuse. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2003.
    1. Peterson AV, Jr, Kealey KA, Mann SL, et al. Hutchinson Smoking Prevention Project: long-term randomized trial in school-based tobacco use prevention—results on smoking. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000;92:1979–91. - PubMed
    1. Ellickson PL, Bell RM, McGuigan K. Preventing adolescent drug use: long-term results of a junior high program. Am J Public Health. 1993;83:856–61. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types