While cigarette consumption among adults has recently declined, Little Cigar consumption has increased. Evidence suggests that minority young adults, ages 18-25, living in low-income communities use Little Cigars more often than their white peers. This is troubling;Little Cigars have higher levels of cancer-causing substances than cigarettes. Evidence-based interventions are needed to prevent Little Cigar use and reduce cancer risk among these groups. Before interventions are developed measures of Little Cigar use and psychosocial determinants should be developed. The proposed research aims to develop and pilot test measures of Little Cigar use and its psychosocial determinants among racially/ethnically-diverse young adults.

Public Health Relevance

Impact Statement This proposed study will address a gap in tobacco control knowledge by developing measures for an emerging tobacco product, Little Cigars. These measures will allow us to quantify Little Cigar usage and more importantly measure the beliefs and social and cultural experiences of racial/ethnically diverse young adult smokers, who are not typically targeted in tobacco-related measurement development studies. Thus, the proposed study impacts cancer prevention research by developing measures to estimate Little Cigar use and its determinants among racially/ethnically diverse young adults, and will lead to additional studies that will identify characteristics of Little Cigar young adult smokers who need cessation interventions. Pilot data generated from this study will assist the PI in developing additional studies that will use these measures to track usage, test hypotheses about the determinants of Little Cigar use, and use behavioral change theoretical frameworks to intervene on modifiable factors that may influence Little Cigar use among racially/ethnically diverse young adults.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03CA159909-02
Application #
8536245
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCA1-SRLB-5 (O2))
Program Officer
Djordjevic, Mirjana V
Project Start
2012-09-01
Project End
2014-08-31
Budget Start
2013-09-01
Budget End
2014-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$69,560
Indirect Cost
$22,560
Name
Georgia State University
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
837322494
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30302
Sterling, Kymberle L; Fryer, Craig S; Fagan, Pebbles (2016) The Most Natural Tobacco Used: A Qualitative Investigation of Young Adult Smokers' Risk Perceptions of Flavored Little Cigars and Cigarillos. Nicotine Tob Res 18:827-33
Fagan, Pebbles; Pohkrel, Pallav; Herzog, Thaddeus et al. (2015) Comparisons of three nicotine dependence scales in a multiethnic sample of young adult menthol and non-menthol smokers. Drug Alcohol Depend 149:203-11
Sterling, Kymberle L; Fryer, Craig S; Nix, Meghan et al. (2015) Appeal and Impact of Characterizing Flavors on Young Adult Small Cigar Use. Tob Regul Sci 1:42-53
Sterling, Kymberle L; Fryer, Craig S; Majeed, Ban et al. (2015) Promotion of waterpipe tobacco use, its variants and accessories in young adult newspapers: a content analysis of message portrayal. Health Educ Res 30:152-61
Majeed, Ban A; Dube, Shanta R; Sterling, Kymberle et al. (2015) Opinions about electronic cigarette use in smoke-free areas among U.S. Adults, 2012. Nicotine Tob Res 17:675-81
Sterling, Kymberle L; Moore, Roland S; Pitts, Nicole et al. (2013) Exposure to celebrity-endorsed small cigar promotions and susceptibility to use among young adult cigarette smokers. J Environ Public Health 2013:520286