Grant Number:	5R21CA180934-02 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Sterling, Kymberle
Organization:	Georgia State University
Project Title:	Assessing Risk Perceptions of Flavored Small Cigars/Cigarillos Among Young Adults
Fiscal Year:	2014

DESCRIPTION: The tobacco control community knows very little about how young adult cigarette smokers form risk perceptions of flavored little cigars and cigarillos (LCC), which researchers believe are key to understanding how to inform regulatory policy as well as prevention methods. In order to accurately determine risk perceptions, sensitive and reliable measures are urgently needed. The long-term goal is to develop health communication interventions that seek to modify risk perceptions of LCC smoking to prevent its initiation among ethnically diverse young adults. The proposed research seeks to fill a knowledge gap by developing a prognostic tool that identifies LCC risk perceptions and predicts LCC initiation behaviors (i.e. susceptibility/intention to smoke) among young adult cigarette smokers. Our preliminary data show that young adult smokers endorse positive attitudes, normative beliefs and self-efficacy toward LCC smoking. We have early indicators that suggest these smokers endorse low perceived risks (i.e., LCC are less harmful than cigarettes) of LCC smoking. Our central hypothesis is that LCC risk perceptions mediate the relationship between attitudes/norms/self-efficacy and susceptibility/intention. We propose 3 specific aims to test our hypothesis: (1) Use qualitative methods to elicit young adult cigarette smokers' beliefs, feelings, and knowledge about flavored LCCs and their risks; (2) To develop a new LCC risk perception scale; and (3) To determine what factors predict LCC susceptibility /intention to smoke. Under the first aim, we will conduct 12 focus groups (n= 8-10/group) to elicit these beliefs, which will inform the scale construction described in Aim 2. Under Aim 2, we will modify an extant tobacco risk perception scale with qualitative findings from Aim 1 and conduct cognitive testing on the scale among a sample of young adult cigarette smokers. Under 3, we will conduct an online survey among a national probability sample of 18-34 year old cigarette smokers (N=900) and use exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to test our hypotheses. The proposed project will be significant because it is expected to help tobacco control regulatory scientists an policy makers understand the ways in which young adult cigarette smokers think about and respond to risks about flavored LCCs.




Harmonizing Cigar Survey Data Across Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science, Center for Tobacco Products, and Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Studies: The Cigar Collaborative Research Group.
Authors: Fishbein H. , Bauer D. , Yu Q. , Mermelstein R. , Jones D. , Miller A. , Harrell M. , Loukas A. , Sterling K. , Colip B. , et al. .
Source: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2021-01-07; 23(1), p. 212-218.
PMID: 31665435
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Affect Predicts Small Cigar Use in a National Sample of US Young Adults.
Authors: Sterling K.L. , Jones D.M. , Majeed B. , Nyman A.L. , Weaver S.R. .
Source: Tobacco regulatory science, 2019 May; 5(3), p. 253-263.
PMID: 31656828
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Risk Perceptions of Little Cigar and Cigarillo Smoking Among Adult Current Cigarette Smokers.
Authors: Sterling K.L. , Majeed B.A. , Nyman A. , Eriksen M. .
Source: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2017-11-01; 19(11), p. 1351-1358.
PMID: 27659275
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Little Cigars and Cigarillos Use Among Young Adult Cigarette Smokers in the United States: Understanding Risk of Concomitant Use Subtypes.
Authors: Sterling K.L. , Fryer C.S. , Pagano I. , Fagan P. .
Source: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2016 Dec; 18(12), p. 2234-2242.
EPub date: 2016-07-06.
PMID: 27613889
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Association between menthol-flavoured cigarette smoking and flavoured little cigar and cigarillo use among African-American, Hispanic, and white young and middle-aged adult smokers.
Authors: Sterling K. , Fryer C. , Pagano I. , Jones D. , Fagan P. .
Source: Tobacco control, 2016 Nov; 25(Suppl 2), p. ii21-ii31.
EPub date: 2016-10-07.
PMID: 27856997
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The Most Natural Tobacco Used: A Qualitative Investigation of Young Adult Smokers' Risk Perceptions of Flavored Little Cigars and Cigarillos.
Authors: Sterling K.L. , Fryer C.S. , Fagan P. .
Source: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2016 May; 18(5), p. 827-33.
EPub date: 2015-07-14.
PMID: 26175458
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Opinions about electronic cigarette use in smoke-free areas among U.S. Adults, 2012.
Authors: Majeed B.A. , Dube S.R. , Sterling K. , Whitney C. , Eriksen M.P. .
Source: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2015 Jun; 17(6), p. 675-81.
EPub date: 2014-10-30.
PMID: 25358659
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Appeal and Impact of Characterizing Flavors on Young Adult Small Cigar Use.
Authors: Sterling K.L. , Fryer C.S. , Nix M. , Fagan P. .
Source: Tobacco regulatory science, 2015 Apr; 1, p. 42-53.
EPub date: 2015-03-01.
PMID: 27917396
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Comparisons of three nicotine dependence scales in a multiethnic sample of young adult menthol and non-menthol smokers.
Authors: Fagan P. , Pohkrel P. , Herzog T. , Pagano I. , Vallone D. , Trinidad D.R. , Sakuma K.L. , Sterling K. , Fryer C.S. , Moolchan E. .
Source: Drug and alcohol dependence, 2015-04-01; 149, p. 203-11.
EPub date: 2015-02-14.
PMID: 25744873
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Promotion of waterpipe tobacco use, its variants and accessories in young adult newspapers: a content analysis of message portrayal.
Authors: Sterling K.L. , Fryer C.S. , Majeed B. , Duong M.M. .
Source: Health education research, 2015 Feb; 30(1), p. 152-61.
EPub date: 2014-06-23.
PMID: 24957675
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