The Relationship Between Perceived Exposure to Promotional Smoking Messages and Smoking Status among High School Students

Abstract

Data on self-reported perceived exposure to pro-smoking messages were collected from 1,608 high school students surveyed through the ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience) Program in Houston, Texas, in 2003. Results indicated that high school smoking quitters had approximately twice the odds of perceived exposure to pro-smoking messages as nonsmokers through billboard advertisements (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.09, 3.81), newspapers & magazines (AOR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.09, 3.56), and movies (AOR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.03, 3.65). Smoking experimenters marginally perceived more exposure to pro-smoking radio messages (AOR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.67) and billboard advertisements (AOR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.61) compared to nonsmokers. Lastly, current smokers were 1.82 times as likely to report exposure to pro-smoking poster advertisements as nonsmokers (95% CI: 1.19, 2.79, p < or = .05). These findings suggest that experimenters and quitters may pay more attention to smoking advertisements than nonsmokers and current smokers.