title: The path to quit: how awareness of a large-scale mass-media smoking cessation campaign promotes quit attempts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although awareness of mass-media smoking cessation campaigns is hypothesized to affect quit behavior through changes in cessation-related attitudes, intentions, and motivation (cognitions), this has yet to be formally tested.
  
  
  METHODS
  Structural equation modeling was used to examine whether changes in cessation-related cognitions mediate the relationship between awareness of a national mass-media smoking cessation campaign, the EX campaign, and quit attempts in a cohort of 3,571 current smokers drawn from eight U.S. Designated Market Areas and followed over an approximate six-month period. Models were examined in the total sample and within racial/ethnic, gender, age, and educational strata.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data suggest that there are both a direct effect of confirmed awareness of EX on quit attempts as well as an indirect effect mediated by positive changes in cessation-related cognitions. Results are not uniform across subgroups; stratified analyses reveal that awareness of EX is significantly associated with positive changes in cessation-related cognitions and quit attempts only in Blacks, males, and those with less than a high-school education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Those developing health communication mass-media campaigns need to consider how media messages might differentially impact U.S. subpopulations in order to elicit desired behavioral change across target subgroups.
authors.affiliation: Legacy, Department of Research and Evaluation, 1724 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA. arichardson@legacyforhealth.org
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mowery
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCausland
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vallone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult