Characteristics of smoker support for increasing a dedicated tobacco tax: national survey data from New Zealand.

AIM: To examine smoker support for tobacco tax and for increased dedicated tobacco taxes, along with associations forany such support. METHODS: The New Zealand (NZ) arm of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey utilizes the NZ Health Survey (a national sample). From this sample, we surveyed adult smokers (N = 1,376). RESULTS: Most smokers considered that the current level of tobacco tax is "too high" (68%), but a majority (59%) would support an increase in tobacco tax if the extra revenue was used to promote healthy lifestyles and support quitting. There was majority support for a dedicated tobacco tax increase among all sociodemographic groups of smokers (including Maori, Pacific, and Asian smokers). In the fully adjusted multivariate model, significant associations with support for a dedicated tax increase included higher deprivation level (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.15) and suffering one form of financial stress (AOR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.18-2.78). Other significant associations with support included concern about the smoking impacts on health and quality of life (AOR = 1.41), expressing support for tobacco control regulation (AOR = 1.83), and strength of intention to quit (AOR = 1.30). DISCUSSION: A majority of smokers from all sociodemographic groups supported an increase in tobacco tax if it was dedicated to quitting support and health promotion. The higher support among smokers with stronger intentions to quit is consistent with other evidence that smokers value tobacco control regulation such as high taxes to help them achieve their long-term quitting goals.

Misperceptions of "light" cigarettes abound: national survey data.

BACKGROUND: Many smokers believe that "light" cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes, which is at variance with the scientific evidence. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) aims to address this problem in Article 11 which deals with misleading labelling of tobacco products. In this study we aimed to determine smokers' use and beliefs concerning "light" and "mild" cigarettes ("lights"), including in relation to ethnicity, deprivation and other socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: The New Zealand (NZ) arm of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey (ITC Project) uses as its sampling frame the NZ Health Survey. This is a national sample with boosted sampling of Maori, Pacific peoples and Asians. From this sample we surveyed adult smokers (n = 1376) about use and beliefs relating to "light" cigarettes. We assessed the associations with smoking "lights" after adjusting for socio-demographic variables, and smoking-related behaviours and beliefs. RESULTS: Many smokers of "lights" believed that smoking "lights" made it easier to quit smoking (25%), that "lights" are less harmful (42%), and that smokers of "lights" take in less tar (43%). Overall most "lights" smokers (60%) had at least one of these three beliefs, a proportion significantly higher than for smokers of "regular" cigarettes at 45% (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.29 - 2.96). While "lights" smokers had significantly lower tobacco consumption and were more aware of smoking harms, they were no more likely to be intending to quit or have made a previous quit attempt. By ethnicity, both Maori and Pacific people were less likely to smoke "lights" than Europeans (aOR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.35 - 0.80 and aOR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.05 - 0.40 respectively). In contrast there was no significant difference by level of deprivation. Roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco smokers were less likely to smoke "light" forms of RYO tobacco while both older and women smokers were more likely to smoke "lights". CONCLUSION: Most "lights" smokers have one or more misperceptions about the product they use, and were no more likely to intend to quit or to have made a quit attempt. In response to such misperceptions, governments could act further to eliminate all misleading tobacco marketing. Ideally, they could not only adopt FCTC requirements, but go further by requiring plain packaging for all tobacco products.

Visible markers of brain injury influence attributions for adolescents' behaviour.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Experiments investigated whether attributions for a brain-injured person's behaviours were affected by markers of injury. People misattribute behaviours that result from brain injury to personality or life stages (e.g. adolescence), particularly when there are no visible markers of the injury. RESEARCH DESIGN: Scenarios presented a photograph of an adolescent boy, who either wore or did not wear a head bandage. The boy was described as suffering a brain injury and showing four changes in his behaviour, relating to sleep, anger, self-confidence and motivation. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: For each behaviour, students (n=100) rated attributions to the brain injury and adolescence. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: When there was no bandage, participants attributed the behaviours to adolescence more than brain injury, whereas with the head bandage they invoked both causes equally. CONCLUSIONS: When actions resulting from brain injury are attributed to causes other than the injury, this misattribution hinders accurate diagnosis and treatment. Data on effects of injury and individual levels of pre-morbid behaviours lead to accurate attributions.