This study investigated whether noticing cannabis education campaigns was associated with increased cannabis risk perceptions in Canada's three territories following non-medical cannabis legalization. Data were from the Cannabis Policy Study in the Territories, including 2452 participants, age [greater than or equal to]16 years residing in Yukon,…

Mass media campaigns are an effective population-level intervention for preventing tobacco use. However, little evidence exists for whether these campaigns similarly influence demographic subgroups. This study examined the effects of the truth® campaign to reduce tobacco use among demographic subgroups. We used data from a national, continuous,…

Electronic cigarettes (ECs) acting as a gateway to smoking traditional cigarettes (TCs) is a growing public health concern of EC use among youths. To gather the opinions and perceptions of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) on whether and how EC can act as a gateway to smoking TC among youths. A qualitative method included 42 AYAs. Participants…

Adolescent hearing loss is a public health problem that has eluded effective intervention. A persuasive message strategy was tested for its effectiveness on adolescents' intention to listen to music at a reduced volume. The messages manipulated both type of message frame [positive consequences of listening to music at a reduced volume…

This study aimed to examine age and educational inequalities in smoking cessation due to the implementation of a tobacco tax increase, smoke-free legislation and a cessation campaign. Longitudinal data from 962 smokers aged 15 years and older were used from three survey waves of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Netherlands Survey. The 2008…

In 2003, the state of North Carolina (NC) implemented a multi-component initiative focused on teenage tobacco use prevention and cessation. One component of this initiative is "Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered." ("TRU"), a tobacco prevention media campaign, aimed at NC youth aged 11-17 years. This research evaluates the first 5 years…

This article provides a theory-based, step-by-step approach to intervention development and illustrates its application in India to design an intervention to promote tobacco-use cessation among school personnel in Bihar. We employed a five-step approach to develop the intervention using the Social Contextual Model of Health Behavior Change (SCM)…

Project Advancing Cessation of Tobacco in Vulnerable Indian Tobacco Consuming Youth (ACTIVITY) is a community-based group randomized intervention trial focused on disadvantaged youth (aged 10-19 years) residing in 14 low-income communities (slums and resettlement colonies) in Delhi, India. This article discusses the findings of Focus Group…

Analogue to occupational noise-induced hearing loss, MP3-induced hearing loss may be evolving into a significant social and public health problem. To inform prevention strategies and interventions, this study investigated correlates of adolescents' risky MP3-player listening behavior primarily informed by protection motivation theory. We invited…

The purpose of this study was to explore factors that influence oral contraceptive (OC) use among women in Iran using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and concept of self-efficacy (SE). The study sample consisted of 360 married OC users, aged 18-49 years recruited at public health centers of Mashhad, 900 km east of Tehran. SE had the strongest…

Efficacious "packaged" teen smoking cessation treatment programs, those developed by national organizations, are widely disseminated to local communities to help teens quit smoking. The implementation fidelity of these programs in community settings has not been documented. The efficacy of these programs could be lessened if they are not…

The school environment has been often identified as a prosperous venue for public health improvement. This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of a school-based helmet promotion program on knowledge, attitudes and practices of eligible adolescent drivers. Four public, four private and four vocational high schools…

Adolescents of low socio-economic position (SEP) are less likely than those of higher SEP to consume diets in line with current dietary recommendations. The reasons for these SEP variations remain poorly understood. We investigated the mechanisms underlying socio-economic variations in adolescents' eating behaviours using a theoretically derived…

Noise-induced hearing loss is a significant social and public health problem, which is found in increasing numbers of adolescents. Young people are particularly likely to expose themselves to potentially damaging loud sounds during leisure activities. Visiting discotheques is one of the most popular leisure activities of young people. Only a few…

Health literacy is an important issue in public health today, especially as patients are taking a greater role in obtaining information about their health. Health literacy is commonly defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate…