Teenagers' Perceptions of Anti-Tobacco Campaigns and Education

Background/Purpose: While tobacco use is the single leading preventable cause of death in the United States, 25% of teenagers nationwide report current tobacco use. Studies provide mixed results regarding which types of anti-tobacco campaigns and educational strategies are most effective in reducing tobacco use among teens. Anti-tobacco campaigns and education are only effective if they are relaying messages to youth in a meaningful way that gives them the skills and attitudes necessary to choose to be tobacco free. This study offers a detailed look at how teenagers themselves perceive anti-tobacco messages. Specifically, the effectiveness of American Legacy's Truth Campaign, fear appeals, and celebrity testimonials will be presented. Teenagers' perceptions on specialized educational strategies including guest speakers, peer education, and direct instruction were examined. Method: A purposive sampling technique was used to select 204 high school students that were eighteen years of age or older and attending public high schools in western Pennsylvania. The representative sample included male (N=112) and female (N=92) participants from five different school districts. A survey was used as the means of data collection. Results: Among the students surveyed, 30.1% reported current tobacco use, a figure higher than that of the national average. Current tobacco users had more negative perceptions of anti-tobacco messages than non-users, past user, and experimental users. Peer pressure was the most commonly reported reason as to why teens initiate tobacco use, and teens perceived fear appeals to be more effective in reducing tobacco use than the Truth Campaign or celebrity testimonials. The majority of students reported that peer education would be an effective means of teaching anti-tobacco education at the elementary and secondary levels. Yet, a high percentage of current tobacco users perceived all approaches to anti-tobacco campaigns and education as ineffective. Conclusions: There is no sole reason why teens begin using tobacco products; therefore, it is likely that there is no one magical approach to anti-tobacco education. This research has demonstrated that existing anti-tobacco campaigns and education are essential components of tobacco control initiatives because of their ability to deter non-users, experimental users, and past users from using tobacco products. New strategies should be developed to help current tobacco users choose to be tobacco free.