Mobile Text Messaging for Tobacco Risk Communication Among Young Adult Community College Students: Randomized Trial...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Communication
• Tobacco Control

Background:

• Young adults (YAs) face significant health risks from new and emerging tobacco products (NETPs) and conventional tobacco products (CTPs).
• Mobile phone ownership is nearly universal among YAs (96%), presenting an opportunity for risk communication via SMS text messaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific SMS message characteristics that effectively enhance perceived risks of NETPs and CTPs among YAs.
• To evaluate the impact of message framing, depth, and appeal on risk perception in a community college setting.

Main Methods:

• A 6-month randomized trial involving 636 young adults across 3 community college campuses.
• Participants received automated, web-based SMS text messages over two 30-day campaigns, varying in framing (gain vs. loss), depth (simple vs. complex), and appeal (emotional vs. rational).
• Repeated-measures mixed-effect models were used to analyze changes in perceived risks of CTPs and NETPs.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in perceived NETP risk was observed over time (P<.001).
• Specific message types led to significant increases in perceived NETP risk: rational (P=.005), emotional (P=.006), simple (P=.003), and gain-framed (P=.003).
• A marginal increase in perceived CTP risk was noted (P=.008), with some improvement from emotional, complex, and loss-framed messages.

Conclusions:

• SMS text messaging can effectively increase young adults' perceived risk of NETPs.
• Rational, emotional, simple, and gain-framed messages are particularly effective in enhancing NETP risk perception.
• Findings support the use of tailored mobile health strategies, like SMS campaigns, for tobacco risk communication among young adults.