Testing Different Anti-smoking Messages Among Chinese Young Adult Smokers and Nonsmokers

Georgia State University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Smoking Prevention

Treatments: Behavioral: Control; Behavioral: Social acceptability; Behavioral: Tobacco industry manipulation; Behavioral: Health effects; Behavioral: Mentral health; Behavioral: Secondhand smoke

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06730646

H24245

Details and patient eligibility

About

Young adults are particularly vulnerable to psychological distress during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, making them more susceptible to developing persistent substance use. The tobacco industry capitalizes on this vulnerability by using marketing tactics to promote tobacco initiation and facilitate the progression from experimental tobacco use to long-term use. In China, where the average age of starting daily smoking is 21.1 years old, the number of current young adult smokers exceeds 29 million. It is crucial to develop effective communication messages to counter the tobacco industry's marketing strategies and protect the health of young adults in China. This project aims to test the effects of different anti-smoking message themes among Chinese young adults. In this online randomized clinical trial, participants will be randomly assigned to one of five antismoking message conditions. The investigators will compare the effects of these themes with each other and with the control condition.

Full description

In this study, the investigators will examine the effectiveness of different anti-smoking themes in reducing intention to smoke among Chines young adults. The study will recruit 1500 adults aged 18-25 years old, including 750 current smokers and 750 non-smokers, evenly split between male and female.

The study will be conducted through a self-administered, web-assisted online survey software. Participants will be asked to consent to participate in this study via a consent form presented at the beginning of the survey. Consented participants will be randomized to one of six conditions (each represents a level of the independent variable: anti-smoking message theme): 1) Health effects 2) Tobacco industry manipulation 3) Mental health 4) Secondhand smoke 5) Social acceptability 6) Control messages with no cigarette-related content.

The study has two sessions. In session 1, participants will complete a 20-minute survey. The survey will begin with questions assessing demographic characteristics. Then participants will be shown intervention or control messages (watch three 30-second video in each condition), and beliefs and future intention to smoke cigarettes will be assessed.

Two weeks after session 1, participants will be asked to complete a 5-minute survey in session 2 of the study. The survey will measure participants' recall of the messages and smoking behaviors in the past two weeks after message exposure.

Enrollment: 1,541 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• • Aged between 18-25 years old

  • Current residency in China
  • Current smokers - having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and currently smoking every day or some days
  • Nonsmokers - having not smoked 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and do not currently smoke cigarettes
  • Can to read, speak, and understand Mandarin Chinese

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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1,541 participants in 6 patient groups

Health effects

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive messages with information about smoking-related diseases.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health effects

Tobacco industry manipulation

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive messages with information about how the tobacco industry uses targeted marketing and manipulative tactics aimed at youth and young adults.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Tobacco industry manipulation

Secondhand smoke

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive messages with information about secondhand smoke exposure.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Secondhand smoke

Mental Health

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive messages with information about the effects of smoking on mental health.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mentral health

Social acceptability

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive messages that portray smoking as socially unacceptable in China.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Social acceptability

Control

Other group

Description:

Participants will receive messages about bottled water which should have no impact on the outcomes of interest.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control