title: Isolated and skeptical: social engagement and trust in information sources among smokers.
abstract: Our study compared indicators of social engagement and trust among current, former, and never smokers. Multinomial regression analyses of data from the 2005 U.S. Health Information National Trends Survey (n = 5586) were conducted to identify independent associations between social engagement, trust in health information sources, and smoking status. Never smokers (odds ratio (OR) = 2.08) and former smokers (OR = 2.48) were significantly more likely to belong to community organizations than current smokers. Never (OR = 4.59) and former smokers (OR = 1.96) were more likely than current smokers to attend religious services. Never smokers (OR = 1.38) were significantly more likely than current smokers to use the Internet. Former smokers (OR = 1.41) were more likely than current smokers to be married. Compared to current smokers, never smokers were significantly more likely to trust health care professionals (OR = 1.52) and less likely to trust the Internet (OR=0.59) for health information. Current smokers are less socially engaged and less trusting of information resources than non-smokers.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Monitoring Research Program, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21704, USA. finneyl@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Lila J Finney
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Rutten
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.forename: Bradford W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Hesse
authors.forename: Leland K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Ackerson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class; D035502:Trust; D055815:Young Adult