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Completed research - tobacco control research & evaluation

Areas of completed research

Adult and adolescent smoking attitudes an behaviours

Media and Tobacco

Tobacco Advertising, promotion and packaging

Smoke-free policies

Other tobacco control policy research

Smoking cessation methods and programs

Adult and adolescent smoking attitudes and behaviours

Development of regular smoking and sun protection behaviours during the transition from adolescence to adulthood

Principal Investigator(s): Victoria White, David Hill, Penny Schofield
Aim(s): As part of a longitudinal study of smoking and sun protection behaviour in young adults, this study aims to:

describe the 'natural history' of the development of smoking and sun protection behaviour in the period from adolescence through from leaving school to adulthood.
identify psychological, social and environmental factors associated with uptake of smoking or cessation of smoking and of sun protection habits during this developmental stage.
contrast the two behaviours as an aid to understanding processes involved in these two cancer-related behaviours.
describe and quantify the effects on smoking and sun protection behaviour of the major developmental transitions of this period, ie. 'school child' to 'adult' status, 'living at home' to 'away from home', 'not working' to 'employed', 'single' to 'married/defacto living arrangements', 'childless' to 'parent'.

Completed: 2004
Contact: Vicki White at CBRC

Genetic and environmental determinants of tobacco and alcohol use trajectories into adulthood: a prospective twin study

Principal Investigator(s): Victoria White, Michael Lynskey
Aim(s): The major aim of this study is to determine the influence of genes and psychosocial factors in the aetiology of the major smoking and alcohol use trajectories from adolescence to adulthood (early 30s). To achieve this, the objectives of the project are:

to use data collected from the proposed study and 3 previous survey waves, to determine major smoking and alcohol trajectories from adolescence to adulthood;
to use data from previous survey waves to determine which adolescent and young adult psychosocial factors, such as personality, attitudes and peer use of substances, discriminate between the different major smoking and drinking trajectories;
to explore similarities and differences in the smoking and alcohol use trajectories of twin pair members to determine the influence of genes and psychosocial factors on the development of tobacco use and alcohol abuse in adulthood.

Funding: NHMRC
Contact: Vicki White at CBRC

Why one twin smokes and the other doesn't: understanding the reasons why children growing up in the same family develop different smoking behaviours

Principal Investigator(s): Victoria White, Kim McLeod, Claire Davey, David Hill
Aim(s): This study aims to conduct semi-structured interviews with young adult twin monozygotic pairs discordant for smoking status to determine the role of environmental and personal factors in determining smoking status.
Funding: Anonymous donation to CBRC
Contact: Vicki White at CBRC

Longitudinal study in twins of uptake of tobacco and alcohol use

Principal Investigator(s): Victoria White, David Hill (Grant Principal Investigator is Dr John Hopper, University of Melbourne)
Aim(s): This cohort study of twins aims to:

study the uptake of tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking in a longitudinal study of teenage twins and
explore a number of the correlates of smoking and alcohol uptake and to investigate their importance as predictors of substance use.

Contact: Vicki White at CBRC

Pathways from socio-economic status to smoking behaviour

Principal Investigator(s): Mohammad Siahpush
Aim(s): The association between socio-economic status (SES) and smoking behaviour is strong and well established. However, the pathways from SES to smoking behaviour are not adequately studied. The aim of this project is to examine the mechanism of the SES-smoking link.
Funding: VicHealth (as part of VicHealth Research Fellowship)
Contact: CBRC

Income inequality, social capital and smoking behaviour

Principal Investigator(s): Mohammad Siahpush, Ron Borland
Aim(s): This project will employ multilevel analysis and investigate the effect of income inequality, social capital, socio-economic status, and psychological stress on smoking behaviour. The data will be collected via telephone interviews from a representative sample (n=2,100) of residents of Victoria, Australia.
Funding: Victorian Department of Human Services
Contact: CBRC

Media and tobacco

Evaluation of Australia's National Tobacco Campaign

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield and David Hill in association with the Research and Evaluation Committee of the National Expert Advisory Committee on Tobacco
Aim(s): CBRC continues to contribute to the evaluation of the National Tobacco Campaign—a major national mass media campaign launched in 1997 and aimed primarily at assisting smokers aged 18–40 along the road to quitting.
Funding: Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing
Completed: 2004
Contact: CBRC

Public reaction to the portrayal of the tobacco industry in the film The Insider

Principal Investigator(s): Helen Dixon, Ron Borland, David Hill
Aims: To assess viewers' perceptions of the tobacco industry and their attitudes and behavioural intentions for tobacco use in response to viewing a film (The Insider) which features a story of corporate misconduct by the tobacco industry and negative information about the health effects of smoking.
Funding: NHMRC post-graduate scholarship.
Completed: 2003
Contact: Helen Dixon at CBRC

Youth smoking and the media

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield and US-based colleagues
Aim(s): This project aims to relate anti-smoking advertising on television, and news coverage of tobacco issues, to measures of youth smoking across the United States.
Funding: US National Cancer Institute.
Contact: Melanie Wakefield at CBRC

Comparative international study of youth responses to anti-smoking advertising

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Russil Durrant, Sarah Durkin, Kim McLeod, and colleagues in US and Britain
Aim(s): This project aims to compare how youth in Australia, the United States and Britain respond to the same anti-smoking advertisements.
Funding: US National Cancer Institute
Contact: Melanie Wakefield at CBRC
Reports:

Effects of anti-smoking advertising and tobacco news coverage on smoking behaviour

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Sarah Durkin, Kim McLeod, Mohammad Siahpush
Aim(s): To relate changes in exposure to anti-smoking advertising and tobacco news coverage to changes in smoking behaviour.
Funding: VicHealth (as part of VicHealth Research Fellowship); Quit Victoria
Contact: Melanie Wakefield at CBRC

Unintended adverse influences of advertising for nicotine replacement therapy

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Russil Durrant, Sarah Durkin, Kim McLeod, David Hill, and a US colleague
Aim(s): This project aims to determine whether there may be unintended influences of advertising for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and Zyban on youth and smokers who are not ready to quit.
Funding: NHMRC
Contact: Melanie Wakefield at CBRC

Is there an association between Victorian secondary students' movie and actor preferences and their attitudes and intentions for smoking?

Principal Investigator(s): Helen Dixon, Victoria White
Aims: To explore cross-sectional associations between the on-screen smoking status of students' favourite actors and actresses and their personal attitudes, intentions and behaviours for smoking.
Contact: Helen Dixon at CBRC

Smoking in movies: Does it matter who does the smoking?

Principal Investigator(s): Helen Dixon; Ron Borland (VCTC); Susan Paxton (The University of Melbourne)
Aim(s): Guided by social cognitive theory and persuasion theory, this study explores the extent to which characters who smoke in movies influence viewers' beliefs, attitudes and intentions for smoking, and whether this influence varies with the characteristics of the smoking model.
Funding: NHMRC post-graduate scholarship
Contact: Helen Dixon at CBRC

Tobacco advertising, promotion and packaging

Bans on tobacco advertising at point of sale

Principal Investigator(s): Tessa Letcher, Lisa Trotter, Melanie Wakefield, Melissa Cameron, Graeme Inglis, David Hill, Caroline Miller
Aim(s): The study aims to investigate retailer and industry compliance with legislation that has introduced bans on point-of-sale tobacco advertising in Victoria. The study also investigates the point-of-sale strategies used by the tobacco industry to market cigarettes before and after the new laws are introduced.
Funding: VicHealth
Completed: 2003
Contact: CBRC

What impact do graphic health warnings on cigarette packs have on adolescents' smoking behaviours and cognitions? A cohort study

Principal Investigator(s): Vicki White
Aim(s): This study aims to:

determine the impact of new graphic health warnings on cigarette packs on adolescents' awareness of health warnings and changes in perception of cigarette brand image, thoughts about smking, and smoking behaviours;
determine the impact of media campaign about health warnings on adolescents' response to new health warnings on cigarette packs.

Funding: Internal
Contact: Vicki White at CBRC

Effect on youth of retail point of sale cigarette displays

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Sarah Durkin
Aim(s): This study aims to investigate the effects of point-of-sale tobacco displays in milk bars on adolescent perceptions about the availability, use, and popularity of cigarettes.
Funding: CBRC; Quit Victoria
Contact: Sarah Durkin at CBRC

Tobacco Point of Sale Audit 2005

Principal Investigator(s): Daniella Germain, Melanie Wakefield
Aim(s): The objective of this study is to examine the visual presence of cigarette pack displays in milkbars located close to secondary schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area. Specifically, this study aims to provide an audit of various aspects of cigarette pack displays, including:

information about brand range and brand prominence;
the use of pack displays and cigarette packs themselves to gain the visual attention of potential customers; and
the proximity of other products to cigarette pack displays, such as confectionery and other products targeted toward young consumers.

Funding: The National Heart Foundation (Victoria)
Contact: Daniella Germain at CBRC

Smoke-free policies

Psychosocial adaptation to legislated smoking restrictions in public dining areas

Principal Investigator(s): Lisa Trotter, Tessa Letcher, Melanie Wakefield, Melissa Cameron, Graeme Inglis, David Hill, Anita Lal, Karen Farquharson
Aim(s): The main objective of the study is to describe and explain the process of adaptation to mandated restrictions on smoking in restaurants in smokers and non-smokers. Specific aims are to:

measure the changes in dining behaviour associated with the introduction of regulations, including dining frequency, choice of venue type and spending
describe strategies that are adopted by smokers to adjust to the changes, such as disregarding the law, avoiding smokefree restaurants or continuing to patronise smokefree restaurants
investigate predictors of dining behaviour, such as prior smoking behaviour, adaptation strategies, belief that passive smoking is harmful, composition of social group usually dine with, smokefree home, perception of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and how bothered by it, concern about SHS and demographic characteristics
describe what motives, thoughts, beliefs and feelings lie behind the adaptations people make in response to introduction of the regulations.

Funding: VicHealth
Completed: 2003

Contact: CBRC

Effect of introduction of varying smoke-free policies on respiratory and sensory symptoms of bar and gaming workers

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Melissa Cameron, Sarah Durkin, Tessa Letcher
Aim(s): To determine whether non-smoking bar/gaming workers employed in workplaces that implement a smoke-free policy (following the introduction of a new law restricting smoking in these workplaces) experience a decline in short-term respiratory and sensory symptoms, compared to workers employed in workplaces where smoking is still permitted. In addition, to determine the association between complete and partial smoke-free policies in social venues and exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS), as measured by the change in salivary cotinine levels of workers before and after work.
Funding: VicHealth
Contact: CBRC

Effect of smoke-free nightclubs and pubs on smoking behaviour

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Melissa Cameron, Tessa Letcher
Aim(s): To explore the utility of smoking in the bar/club setting and investigate the perceptions of smokers as to the likely effect of smoke-free policies in social venues on their smoking behaviour, among (a) Young bar/club attendees who are not daily smokers, and (b) older regular bar/club attendees who are daily smokers and who want to quit.
Funding: VicHealth.
Contact: CBRC

Compliance with legislation restricting smoking in licensed venues in Victoria

Principal Investigator(s): Tessa Letcher, Melanie Wakefield, Sarah Durkin
Aim(s): New restrictions on smoking in licensed and gambling venues in Victoria were introduced in September 2002 through legislative amendments. This study aims to evaluate the implementation of these restrictions by observing compliance with the new laws in a range of venues.
Funding: Quit Victoria.

Reports: Compliance with legislation restricting smoking in licensed venues in Victoria (236kb). CBRC Research Paper Series No. 16. October 2005.

Contact: CBRC

Association between exposure to workplace secondhand smoke and respiratory symptoms

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, Lisa Trotter, Melissa Cameron, Alistair Woodward, Graeme Inglis, David Hill
Aim(s): To measure staff attitudes towards and experiences of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in the workplace and to assess the relation between exposure to SHS at work and a range of reported respiratory and sensory symptoms.
Funding: VicHealth
Completed: 2003
Contact: Melissa Cameron at CBRC

Other tobacco control policy research

Evaluation of legislation to reduce sales of tobacco to minors

Principal Investigator(s): Melanie Wakefield, David Hill, Lisa Trotter, Tessa Letcher, Melissa Cameron, Graeme Inglis
Aims: This project aims to examine trends in the access of young people (aged 12 to 17 years) to the purchase of tobacco products over a period before and after the introduction of new laws in Victoria on 1 November 2000 intended to reduce the sale of tobacco to minors.
Funding: VicHealth and Victorian Department of Human Services
Completed: 2003
Contact: CBRC