Secondhand Smoke Risk Communication: Effects on Parent Smokers' Perceptions and Intentions

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Communication
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure poses significant health risks to children.
• Parent smokers require effective communication strategies to mitigate SHS exposure risks.
• Existing interventions often focus solely on smoking cessation, neglecting exposure reduction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different message recommendations (cessation vs. cessation+exposure reduction) and formats (video vs. text-only) in communicating SHS risks to parent smokers.
• To assess the impact of these messages on parent smokers' harm perceptions, self-efficacy, and intentions to quit, reduce exposure, seek help, and communicate interpersonally.
• To identify optimal communication strategies for reducing SHS exposure among children.

Main Methods:

• An online experimental survey was conducted with 623 adult smokers living with children (aged 0-15).
• Participants were randomly assigned to receive messages promoting smoking cessation, cessation and exposure reduction, or no message (control).
• Messages were delivered in either video or text-only formats, followed by questionnaires assessing perceptions and intentions.

Main Results:

• Both message types increased harm perceptions, self-efficacy, and help-seeking intentions compared to the control.
• Cessation+exposure reduction messages increased quit intentions more than the control.
• Video messages, compared to text-only, enhanced reduce-exposure and interpersonal communication intentions. Only videos significantly increased quit and help-seeking intentions compared to the control.

Conclusions:

• Communicating both cessation and exposure reduction is more effective than cessation alone for parent smokers.
• Video formats are superior to text-only materials for increasing quit intentions, help-seeking, and interpersonal communication.
• Optimized communication strategies should incorporate dual recommendations and utilize video formats to protect children from secondhand smoke.