Table 5.
Association Between Endorsing Pro-menthol Beliefs and Intending to Use Tobacco Over the Next Year (Tobacco Intention Analysis) or Currently Using Tobacco (Tobacco Behavior Analysis)
| Tobacco intention analysis; 13- to 17-year-old current nonsmokers (n = 553) | Tobacco intention analysis; 18- to 25-year-old never tobacco users (n = 585) | Tobacco behavior analysis; 18- to 25-year-old never tobacco users and current tobacco users (n = 893) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % Intending | Adj. OR (95% CI) | % Intending | Adj. OR (95% CI) | % Tobacco users | Adj. OR (95% CI) | ||
| Total | 32.2 | 23.6 | 34.5 | ||||
| Harmful to your bodya | Anti-menthol | 30.9 | 20.5 | 35.4 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 42.2 | 1.66^ (0.96–2.90) | 37.4 | 2.21** (1.32–3.72) | 29.1 | 0.86 (0.52–1.43) | |
| Addictivea | Anti-menthol | 31.1 | 21.7 | 34.5 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 41.8 | 1.72^ (0.95–3.10) | 34.5 | 1.76^ (0.98–3.18) | 33.7 | 1.04 (0.61–1.77) | |
| Nicotinea | Anti-menthol | 30.4 | 21.8 | 35.6 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 41.5 | 1.69* (1.01–2.82) | 29.8 | 1.33 (0.80–2.23) | 29.3 | 0.80 (0.50–1.28) | |
| Refreshing in tasteb | Anti-menthol | 28.8 | 20.5 | 28.5 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 40.5 | 1.62* (1.05–2.49) | 30.4 | 1.70* (1.08–2.66) | 44.5 | 1.81** (1.26–2.60) | |
| Refreshing in sensationb | Anti-menthol | 28.0 | 21.5 | 27.5 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 42.4 | 1.74* (1.14–2.65) | 29.0 | 1.46 (0.92–2.32) | 47.5 | 2.06** (1.44–2.93) | |
| Easy to smokeb | Anti-menthol | 28.6 | 22.1 | 31.9 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 47.5 | 2.28** (1.41–3.69) | 29.8 | 1.43 (0.85–2.40) | 43.2 | 1.35 (0.92–1.97) | |
| Soothing for a sore throatb | Anti-menthol | 29.1 | 21.9 | 28.1 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 42.3 | 1.54^ (0.99–2.40) | 28.8 | 1.35 (0.84–2.17) | 48.3 | 2.08** (1.44–2.99) | |
| Popularc | Anti-menthol | 30.5 | 22.4 | 32.7 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 47.4 | 2.22* (1.19–4.14) | 35.0 | 1.69 (0.83–3.43) | 45.6 | 1.19 (0.68–2.06) | |
| Attractivec | Anti-menthol | 31.7 | 22.7 | 33.3 | |||
| Pro-menthol | 43.9 | 1.39 (0.74–2.62) | 36.0 | 2.23* (1.06–4.69) | 43.9 | 1.37 (0.77–2.42) | |
In all models, the anti-menthol belief is the reference category. All models adjust for gender, age, race/ethnicity, sensation seeking, living in a metropolitan area, sibling smoking, living with a tobacco user, and having at least one close friend who uses tobacco. Additionally, 18- to 25-year-old models adjust for education. Models that did not adjust for these covariates showed the same pattern of results, albeit with a tendency toward stronger levels of statistical significance. All analyses are restricted to participants who had heard of menthol cigarettes and who had nonmissing data on the belief variables; missing data (due to participant nonresponse) for each belief variable ranged between n = 0 and n = 14. All analyses use weighted data and significance tests adjust for complex sample design. Adj. = adjusted for covariates listed above; OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval.
aPro-menthol beliefs combine the two responses indicating that “menthol cigarettes are [contain] less ….”
bPro-menthol beliefs combine the two responses indicating that “menthol cigarettes are more ….”
cPro-menthol beliefs combine the two responses indicating that “menthol smokers are more ….”
**p < .01; *p < .05; ^p < .10.