title: A cross-sectional study of opinions related to the tobacco industry and their association with smoking status amongst 14-15 year old teenagers in New Zealand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  New Zealand has been at the forefront of tobacco control and can boast an impressive range of tobacco control intervention. To date, tobacco control policy and interventions have directed very little attention to the tobacco industry because they concentrate on reducing demand for tobacco. In addition, the tobacco industry does not have a bold profile in the mass media. Given this low profile of the tobacco industry and the predominance of measures to reduce demand we were interested in teenage perceptions of the tobacco industry in New Zealand.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional sample of 31,459 Year 10 students was obtained in 2006. Attitudes towards the tobacco industry and smoking outcomes were analysed using multivariate logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-six percent of students disagreed that tobacco companies are responsible for people starting to smoke and 34% agreed that tobacco companies have equal right to sell cigarettes as other companies to sell their products. Female, Māori and students from low decile schools, who are all more likely to be smoking or have tried smoking, were more likely to show greater acceptance of the tobacco industry. Intention to smoke was associated with the belief that tobacco industry is not responsible for smoking initiation (odds ratio 1.7, p<0.001), and that the tobacco industry is legitimate and credible (odds ratio 2.9, p<0.001). Tolerant attitudes towards the tobacco industry were strongly associated with intentions to smoke and current smoking amongst teenagers.
authors.affiliation: Section of Social and Community Health, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 90219, New Zealand. j.mccool@auckland.ac.nz
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCool
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paynter
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scragg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001290:Attitude; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D019460:Tobacco Industry; D035502:Trust / Q000523:psychology