title: Do we believe the tobacco industry lied to us? Association with smoking behavior in a military population.
abstract: Despite the dangers of smoking, tobacco companies continue to impede tobacco control efforts through deceptive marketing practices. Media campaigns that expose these practices have been effective in advancing anti-industry attitudes and reducing smoking initiation among young people, yet the association between knowledge of industry practices and smoking cessation and relapse has not been studied. In a large military sample entering Air Force Basic Military Training (BMT), where tobacco use is prohibited, we investigated (i) the prevalence of agreement with a statement that tobacco companies have misled the public about the health consequences of smoking and (ii) the association of this acknowledgement with smoking status upon entry into BMT (N = 36 013). At baseline, 56.6% agreed that tobacco companies have been deceptive, and agreement was a strong predictor of smoking status [smokers less likely to agree, odds ratio (OR) = 0.39, P < 0.01]. At 12-month follow-up, we examined the association between industry perception at baseline and current smoking status (N = 20 672). Recruits who had been smoking upon entry into BMT and who had acknowledged industry deception were less likely to report current smoking (OR = 0.84, P = 0.01). These findings suggest that anti-industry attitudes may affect smoking relapse following cessation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Klesges
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sherrill-Mittleman
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Debon
authors.forename: G Wayne
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Talcott
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Vanecek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing; D008889:Military Personnel; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D019460:Tobacco Industry; D055815:Young Adult