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No description available.

D.Phil. / The aim of this study was to explore the psychosocial factors which impact on smoking behaviour and to consider the impact of these factors on the formulation of national policy, as well as business and management practices around the marketing and promotion of tobacco products. An analytic induction approach was followed in analysing the data of multiple cases. Interviews and observations were used to gather in-depth information on nine participants (smokers, ex-smokers, social smokers and non-smokers). The data was subjected to analytic induction in order to build a typology of smoking behaviour. This theoretical tool was compared to current knowledge and culminated in a model of psychosocial factors that influence smoking behaviour, which was tested against a further four cases. No negative cases were found. The outcome of this study suggests that promoters of tobacco products should follow a more focused approach towards dark marketing. It also highlights that government and other anti-smoking agencies are not always effective in reducing smoking and counteracting covert marketing practices. The study also illustrated that analytic induction can be applied successfully in consumer behaviour studies. Finally, it contributed to local knowledge of qualitative research, as analytic induction has not been applied fully in a local study before.

No description available.

Background: Tobacco marketing has been established as the main motivator for tobacco use among youth. A proliferation of tobacco promotional activities in retail stores has been observed yet little is known about its impact on adolescent smoking behaviours. The purpose of this study is to use secondary data to describe the prevalence of retail tobacco point-of-purchase (PoP) activities, examine its associations with adolescent smoking behaviours, and determine what ecological factors moderate the relationship between PoP activities and student smoking behaviours in British Columbia. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed grade 10-11 students from 22 randomly-selected schools in BC on student smoking behaviour and conducted observations in 57 retail stores on tobacco PoP activities located within a 1 km radius of these schools. Descriptive analysis was conducted on retail tobacco PoP variables. Individual data on smoking behaviour and school level data on retailers were linked to analyse the association between retail tobacco PoP activities and student smoking behaviour using logistic regression. Moderating effects of contextual factors were also examined. GIS maps were generated to illustrate study findings. Result: A moderate to strong presence of tobacco PoP activities was observed in all tobacco retail stores located in BC school neighbourhoods. Nearly all stores displayed cigarette products in a visible manner (98.25%) and posted tobacco control signage (94.74%). In this model, proportion of stores in the school neighbourhood with presence of tobacco advertising increased the odds of a student being a smoker (OR = 1.28-3.27). Proportion of stores in the school neighbourhood with presence of tobacco control signage decreased the odds of a student being a smoker (OR = 0.11-0.66). The odds of a student being a smoker increased if they resided on the island compared to living in the lower mainland (OR = 1.11-1.75). Discussion: Convenience stores exhibited more tobacco PoP activities than other store types. Retailers in the school neighbourhood that had tobacco advertisements and tobacco control signage exhibited both detrimental and protective effects on student smoking. This provides supportive evidence to ban tobacco advertising in retail stores and increase efforts for creating an anti-tobacco environment in neighbourhood retail stores. Maps generated served descriptive and hypothesis generating purposes.

Background: Tobacco marketing has been established as the main motivator for tobacco use among youth. A proliferation of tobacco promotional activities in retail stores has been observed yet little is known about its impact on adolescent smoking behaviours. The purpose of this study is to use secondary data to describe the prevalence of retail tobacco point-of-purchase (PoP) activities, examine its associations with adolescent smoking behaviours, and determine what ecological factors moderate the relationship between PoP activities and student smoking behaviours in British Columbia. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed grade 10-11 students from 22 randomly-selected schools in BC on student smoking behaviour and conducted observations in 57 retail stores on tobacco PoP activities located within a 1 km radius of these schools. Descriptive analysis was conducted on retail tobacco PoP variables. Individual data on smoking behaviour and school level data on retailers were linked to analyse the association between retail tobacco PoP activities and student smoking behaviour using logistic regression. Moderating effects of contextual factors were also examined. GIS maps were generated to illustrate study findings. Result: A moderate to strong presence of tobacco PoP activities was observed in all tobacco retail stores located in BC school neighbourhoods. Nearly all stores displayed cigarette products in a visible manner (98.25%) and posted tobacco control signage (94.74%). In this model, proportion of stores in the school neighbourhood with presence of tobacco advertising increased the odds of a student being a smoker (OR = 1.28-3.27). Proportion of stores in the school neighbourhood with presence of tobacco control signage decreased the odds of a student being a smoker (OR = 0.11-0.66). The odds of a student being a smoker increased if they resided on the island compared to living in the lower mainland (OR = 1.11-1.75). Discussion: Convenience stores exhibited more tobacco PoP activities than other store types. Retailers in the school neighbourhood that had tobacco advertisements and tobacco control signage exhibited both detrimental and protective effects on student smoking. This provides supportive evidence to ban tobacco advertising in retail stores and increase efforts for creating an anti-tobacco environment in neighbourhood retail stores. Maps generated served descriptive and hypothesis generating purposes.

Background: Tobacco marketing has been established as the main motivator for tobacco use among youth. A proliferation of tobacco promotional activities in retail stores has been observed yet little is known about its impact on adolescent smoking behaviours. The purpose of this study is to use secondary data to describe the prevalence of retail tobacco point-of-purchase (PoP) activities, examine its associations with adolescent smoking behaviours, and determine what ecological factors moderate the relationship between PoP activities and student smoking behaviours in British Columbia. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed grade 10-11 students from 22 randomly-selected schools in BC on student smoking behaviour and conducted observations in 57 retail stores on tobacco PoP activities located within a 1 km radius of these schools. Descriptive analysis was conducted on retail tobacco PoP variables. Individual data on smoking behaviour and school level data on retailers were linked to analyse the association between retail tobacco PoP activities and student smoking behaviour using logistic regression. Moderating effects of contextual factors were also examined. GIS maps were generated to illustrate study findings. Result: A moderate to strong presence of tobacco PoP activities was observed in all tobacco retail stores located in BC school neighbourhoods. Nearly all stores displayed cigarette products in a visible manner (98.25%) and posted tobacco control signage (94.74%). In this model, proportion of stores in the school neighbourhood with presence of tobacco advertising increased the odds of a student being a smoker (OR = 1.28-3.27). Proportion of stores in the school neighbourhood with presence of tobacco control signage decreased the odds of a student being a smoker (OR = 0.11-0.66). The odds of a student being a smoker increased if they resided on the island compared to living in the lower mainland (OR = 1.11-1.75). Discussion: Convenience stores exhibited more tobacco PoP activities than other store types. Retailers in the school neighbourhood that had tobacco advertisements and tobacco control signage exhibited both detrimental and protective effects on student smoking. This provides supportive evidence to ban tobacco advertising in retail stores and increase efforts for creating an anti-tobacco environment in neighbourhood retail stores. Maps generated served descriptive and hypothesis generating purposes. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

The issue of how to test and ultimately regulate tobacco products represents a critical challenge for the public health community. Although the current international testing regime for conventional cigarettes is widely acknowledged to be seriously flawed, there is a lack of data to guide potential alternatives, particularly in the area of human puffing behaviour. The current study sought to: 1) collect naturalistic measures of smoking behaviour, 2) examine the extent to which levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide from each of five testing protocols were associated with measures of nicotine uptake among smokers, and 3) examine the validity of self-report measures of smoking behaviour. These questions were examined through two different studies. First, a field study of smoking behaviour was conducted with 59 adult smokers, who used a portable device to measure smoking topography over the course of 3 one-week trials. Participants were asked to smoke their usual ?regular-yield? brand through the device for Trial 1 and again, 6 weeks later, at Trial 2. Half the subjects were then randomly assigned to smoke a ?low-yield? brand for Trial 3. The smoke intake and constituent yield of each brand was then tested under five testing protocols: ISO, Massachusetts, Canadian, a Compensatory protocol, and a Human Mimic regime. Participants also completed self-report measures of puffing behaviour at recruitment and immediately following each of the three one-week smoking trials. Several of these self-report measures were subsequently included in the Waves 2 and 3 of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Survey?an international cohort survey of adult smokers from Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK. <br /><br /> The results of the field study indicate a high degree of stability in puffing behaviour within the same smoker over time, but considerable variability between smokers, including those smoking the same brand. Puffing behaviour was strongly associated with cotinine levels, particularly when included in an interaction term with cigarettes per day (<em>Part r</em> = . 50, <em>p</em><. 001). Smokers who were switched to a ?low-yield? cigarette increased their total smoke intake per cigarette by 40% (<em>p</em>=. 007), with no significant change in their in salivary cotinine levels. <br /><br /> The results indicate systematic differences between human puffing behaviour and the puffing regimes used by machine testing protocols. The puffing behaviour observed among participants during the one-week smoking trials was significantly more intense than the puffing parameters of the ISO and Compensatory testing regimes. When cigarette brands were machine tested using participants? actual puffing behaviour, the results suggest that participants ingested two to four times the level of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide indicated by the ISO regime, and twice the amounts generated by the Compensatory regime for ?regular-yield? brands. The Canadian and Massachusetts regimes produced yields much closer to the ?Human Mimic? yields, although nowhere near a maximum or intense standard, as they were designed to do. Only the nicotine yields from the Human Mimic regime were correlated with measures of nicotine uptake among smokers, and only moderately so (<em>Part r</em> = . 31, <em>p</em>=. 02). <br /><br /> Self-report measures of puffing behaviour collected during the field study were moderately correlated with physiological measures of puffing and exposure. Self-report measures of puff depth and puff number showed some promise as predictors of salivary cotinine, although the results are characterized by inconsistencies across models. The self-report measures included in the ITC survey were only weakly associated with age and cigarettes per day, with modest between-country differences. <br /><br /> Overall, this research highlights the importance of puffing behaviour as a determinant of smoke exposure, and provides strong evidence of compensatory smoking for ?low-yield? brands. The findings also highlight the variability in human smoking behaviour and the limitations associated with machine testing protocols. Perhaps most important, the findings underscore the immediate need to revise the ISO protocol, which systematically underestimates smoking behaviour among humans and exaggerates differences between cigarette brands.

As shisha smoking is increasing globally, the need for a critical action to control shisha smoking consumption becomes crucial. Despite the success of cigarette warning labels in increasing smokers' awareness of the negative health effects of smoking and in motivating smokers to quit, nothing is known about the potential impact health warning labels may have on shisha users. The current study investigated the perception of effectiveness of text-only versus graphic warning among shisha smokers. This study sought to examine the impact of viewing health warning labels on perceived susceptibility and severity of shisha smoking health hazards, on motivating intentions to quit, and on changing the pattern of shisha smoking. Eligible participants first completed an online baseline questionnaire, and were then randomly assigned to one of three conditions:a control condition, in which they viewed nutrition labels (n=100) , or one of two experimental groups in which they viewed Text- only warning labels (n=117), or they viewed Graphic warning labels (n=125). In each of these three conditions, participants viewed six health warning labels and rated them using likert scale questions immediately following each label. Two weeks later, participants were invited to complete an online follow-up questionnaire. The findings indicate that Graphic tobacco warnings grab participants' attention and elicit unfavourable emotional reactions. Although there was a relatively little impact of viewing health warnings on subsequent shisha use, Graphic warnings significantly improved some of the participants' health knowledge .In addition, Graphic warnings significantly increased smokers' beliefs that shisha is harmful to health and dangerous to non-smokers. Patterns of the findings revealed that quit intentions were relatively higher among those who viewed Graphic warning labels. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effect of health warnings on shisha smokers. Overall, findings provide modest support for the efficcacy of shisha warnings on establised users. Findings imply that packaging and labelling policies for shisha and shisha products require additional development. Further examination of specific themes and contents of health warnings directed specifically to shisha smokers in different cultural settings will be critical to ensure the relevance of health warnings in distinct cultural settings.

The issue of how to test and ultimately regulate tobacco products represents a critical challenge for the public health community. Although the current international testing regime for conventional cigarettes is widely acknowledged to be seriously flawed, there is a lack of data to guide potential alternatives, particularly in the area of human puffing behaviour. The current study sought to: 1) collect naturalistic measures of smoking behaviour, 2) examine the extent to which levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide from each of five testing protocols were associated with measures of nicotine uptake among smokers, and 3) examine the validity of self-report measures of smoking behaviour. These questions were examined through two different studies. First, a field study of smoking behaviour was conducted with 59 adult smokers, who used a portable device to measure smoking topography over the course of 3 one-week trials. Participants were asked to smoke their usual ?regular-yield? brand through the device for Trial 1 and again, 6 weeks later, at Trial 2. Half the subjects were then randomly assigned to smoke a ?low-yield? brand for Trial 3. The smoke intake and constituent yield of each brand was then tested under five testing protocols: ISO, Massachusetts, Canadian, a Compensatory protocol, and a Human Mimic regime. Participants also completed self-report measures of puffing behaviour at recruitment and immediately following each of the three one-week smoking trials. Several of these self-report measures were subsequently included in the Waves 2 and 3 of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Survey?an international cohort survey of adult smokers from Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK. <br /><br /> The results of the field study indicate a high degree of stability in puffing behaviour within the same smoker over time, but considerable variability between smokers, including those smoking the same brand. Puffing behaviour was strongly associated with cotinine levels, particularly when included in an interaction term with cigarettes per day (<em>Part r</em> = . 50, <em>p</em><. 001). Smokers who were switched to a ?low-yield? cigarette increased their total smoke intake per cigarette by 40% (<em>p</em>=. 007), with no significant change in their in salivary cotinine levels. <br /><br /> The results indicate systematic differences between human puffing behaviour and the puffing regimes used by machine testing protocols. The puffing behaviour observed among participants during the one-week smoking trials was significantly more intense than the puffing parameters of the ISO and Compensatory testing regimes. When cigarette brands were machine tested using participants? actual puffing behaviour, the results suggest that participants ingested two to four times the level of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide indicated by the ISO regime, and twice the amounts generated by the Compensatory regime for ?regular-yield? brands. The Canadian and Massachusetts regimes produced yields much closer to the ?Human Mimic? yields, although nowhere near a maximum or intense standard, as they were designed to do. Only the nicotine yields from the Human Mimic regime were correlated with measures of nicotine uptake among smokers, and only moderately so (<em>Part r</em> = . 31, <em>p</em>=. 02). <br /><br /> Self-report measures of puffing behaviour collected during the field study were moderately correlated with physiological measures of puffing and exposure. Self-report measures of puff depth and puff number showed some promise as predictors of salivary cotinine, although the results are characterized by inconsistencies across models. The self-report measures included in the ITC survey were only weakly associated with age and cigarettes per day, with modest between-country differences. <br /><br /> Overall, this research highlights the importance of puffing behaviour as a determinant of smoke exposure, and provides strong evidence of compensatory smoking for ?low-yield? brands. The findings also highlight the variability in human smoking behaviour and the limitations associated with machine testing protocols. Perhaps most important, the findings underscore the immediate need to revise the ISO protocol, which systematically underestimates smoking behaviour among humans and exaggerates differences between cigarette brands.