Demographic differences in support for smoking policy interventions

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.04.003

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 32, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 148-157

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.04.003 Get rights and content

Abstract

The Smoking Policy Inventory (SPI) is a 35-item scale, which measures attitudes towards tobacco control policies. The five dimensions of the SPI are advertising and promotion, public education, laws and penalties, taxes and fees, and restrictions on smoking. The SPI has been applied to different samples, both in the USA and internationally. However, no one has investigated if there is differential support for policy intervention among subgroups within the USA. This study investigated subgroup differences on five demographic variables (gender, age, race, ethnicity, and education) across the five dimensions of the SPI. A random digit dial sample of 506 adult participants from the United States was analyzed with five MANOVAs and follow-up ANOVAs. Men (N = 188) had significantly (p < 0.05) less favorable attitudes towards tobacco control policies than women (N = 317) on all five scales. Blacks (N = 52) had significantly (p < 0.05) more favorable attitudes than whites (N = 410) on increasing public education. There were no significant differences between Hispanics (N = 21) and non-Hispanics (N = 469). Older people were significantly (p < 0.05) more supportive of restrictions on advertising and promotion, increasing public education, and increasing environmental restrictions. More educated people were significantly (p < 0.05) more supportive of increasing taxes and fees and increasing environmental restrictions. These subgroup differences could be employed to guide the targeting of changes in policies and interventions to the specific concerns of the various groups.

Section snippets

Measures

The Smoking Policy Inventory (SPI) is a 35-item scale that includes five dimensions: advertising and promotion, public education, laws and penalties, taxes and fees, and restrictions on smoking. These dimensions include questions about participant attitudes towards tobacco control policies. There is evidence to support this instrument is internally consistent and valid across different populations (Laforge et al., 1998, Velicer et al., 1994). The first dimension assesses participant attitudes

Analysis

A one-way analysis of variance was conducted for each of the five demographic variables on the each of the five dimensions of the SPI. Additional analysis investigated all potential second and third order interactions.

Gender

The gender variable provided evidence of significant differences between men and women on the five dimensions. This sample included 188 (37%) men and 317 women (63%). Of the five dimensions, there was a significant difference between the way in which women and men responded on all

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate subgroup differences across the five dimensions of the Smoking Policy Inventory. There were four noteworthy findings. One, women had significantly more positive attitudes towards smoking policies in comparison to men. This was the only demographic variable in which each dimension was significantly different between groups. Two, there was a trend for Black participants showing more favorable attitudes than whites, especially on the public education

Acknowledgements

Grants 71356, CA50087 and CA27821 from the National Cancer Institute supported this research. Portions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Behavior Medicine, Boston, MA, April 2005. The authors would like to thank members of the TReND network for inspiration and support.

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Public support is an indication of the legitimacy of governmental tobacco interventions. Little is known about what it is that shapes the support for various tobacco policy measures. We examine whether there are differences in public support for new measures against smoking, snus, and e-cigarettes in Norway, and whether public support is associated with user status and perceptions of the products’ harm potential.
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Citation Excerpt :
In both samples, females were more supportive of a strong tobacco policy than males. This gender effect is consistent with prior research, with regard to both university campuses (Berg et al., 2011; Cooper et al., 2016) and, more generally, smoke-free public spaces (Doucet et al., 2007; Thomson et al., 2016). For example, in a review of 23 surveys, Thomson et al. reported that women were found to be more supportive than men of smoke-free outdoor policies in every study in which gender was compared.
Many universities are adopting campus tobacco policies, but little research has explored factors influencing the choice between the policy options of smoke-free versus 100% tobacco-free. Students, faculty, and staff at a U.S. state university participated in a web-based survey in 2013, approximately one year after adoption of a smoke-free policy. Respondents who expressed support for the policy were included in an analysis to examine their opinions regarding a 100% tobacco-free policy. The samples included 4138 students and 1582 faculty/staff. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify predictors of opposition to a tobacco-free campus. Independent variables included strength of support for a smoke-free campus, past-month tobacco use (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, non-cigarette combustible tobacco products), campus exposure to secondhand smoke, perceptions of tobacco-related behaviors and norms, and demographics. Of these supporters of a smoke-free campus, 14.3% of students and 10.2% of faculty/staff were opposed to a tobacco-free campus. In the multivariate analyses, in both samples, smokeless tobacco use predicted opposition while smoke-free policy support and female gender predicted support. In addition, among students, current or former cigarette smoking and non-cigarette combustible tobacco use predicted opposition; international student status and secondhand smoke exposure predicted support. Among faculty/staff, age over 55 predicted support. Future research should examine why current and former smokers might oppose policies restricting non-combustible tobacco products, even when they support smoke-free policies. In policy planning, campus administrators should communicate actual tobacco usage levels. International students who do not use tobacco may be a source of policy support.
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Effective alcohol, tobacco and illegal drug policies reduce the harm to users and third parties. Knowledge about determinants and interrelations between attitudes held by the general public to different types of policy measures can benefit policy-makers who aim to increase acceptance for effective policy. The present study describes the level of support for various policy measures held by the general public, and investigates the association between attitudes to policy measures on alcohol, tobacco and illegal drug.
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But we did find it surprising that being a former smoker also strongly predicted opposition, since these individuals' daily patterns were not disrupted by the policy. The strong gender effect—females more supportive than males—was found in both samples, extending previous research that has found females more generally supportive of tobacco control policies (Berg et al., 2011; Doucet et al., 2007). Several campus lifestyle factors were also significant predictors of students' support: living on campus and fraternity/sorority membership were both associated with opposition to a smoke-free campus.
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Demographic differences in support for smoking policy interventions

Abstract

Section snippets

Measures

Analysis

Gender

Discussion

Acknowledgements

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Addictive Behaviors

State laws on youth access to tobacco in the United States: Measuring their extensiveness with a new rating system

Tobacco Control

Standardized survey interviewing-minimizing interviewer-related error

Einstellungen zur Raucherpolitik in Abhaengigkeit vom Raucherstatus

Zeitschrift fuer Medizinische Psychologie

Measuring support for tobacco control policy in selected areas of six countries

Tobacco Control