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Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusions So What? Physically locating liquor stores near schools can strongly influence the chances of youth accessing and consuming alcohol, and may also increase children's exposure to alcohol advertising. Investigating the association between the presence of a liquor store near a school and the prevalence of outdoor alcohol advertising is crucial from a policy perspective, as it can inform future regulations on the placement of liquor stores and outdoor advertising near educational institutions.All outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500 m radius (audit zone) of 64 randomly selected schools from local government areas across metropolitan Perth was identified by direct observation; recording the size, setting, location and content of each advertisement. Results were compared based on whether the school audit zone contained a liquor store or not.Over half (n = 36, 56%) of all school audit zones had at least one alcohol advertisement, with an average number of 5.9 alcohol advertisements per zone (SD = 10.2). The majority (97.9%) of advertisements were in the 38 audit zones containing a liquor store (average = 9.7, SD = 11.9 per zone), compared to zones without a liquor store (average = .3, SD = .7 per zone).Perth school zones containing a liquor store in their 500 m radius had, on average, 30 times more outdoor alcohol advertising, compared with school zones without a nearby liquor store.The siting of liquor stores and the display of alcohol advertisements around educational settings require combined policy, planning and public health approaches to mitigate children's exposure to alcohol marketing, especially during school transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: Adolescents are heavily exposed to unhealthy outdoor food advertisements near schools, however, the marketing power of these advertisements among adolescents has not yet been explored. This study aimed to investigate the teen‐directed marketing features present and quantify the overall marketing power of outdoor food advertisements located near schools to explore any differences by content (ie, alcohol, discretionary, core and miscellaneous foods) school type (ie, primary, secondary, K‐12) and area‐level socio‐economic status (SES; ie, low vs high). Methods: This cross‐sectional study audited every outdoor food advertisement (n = 1518) within 500m of 64 randomly selected schools in Perth, Western Australia, using a teen‐informed coding tool to score the marketing power of each advertisement. Results: Outdoor alcohol advertisements around schools had the highest average marketing power score and number of advertising features present. Outdoor advertisements for alcohol and discretionary foods scored significantly higher in marketing power than core food advertisements (P <.001). Outdoor alcohol advertisements around secondary schools scored significantly higher in marketing power than around primary and K‐12 schools (P <.001); and outdoor advertisements for discretionary foods in low SES areas scored significantly higher in marketing power than those in high SES areas (P <.001). Conclusions: This study found outdoor advertisements for unhealthy products, such as alcohol and discretionary foods, were more powerful than advertisements for core foods around schools. So What?: These findings strengthen the need for policies which restrict outdoor advertisements for non‐core foods near schools, to reduce adolescents' exposure to powerful alcohol and discretionary food advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues Addressed: Energy drinks (EDs) are not recommended for children due to their high caffeine content and adverse health risks. Their popularity among children may be due to children's exposure to ED marketing. This study aimed to identify where children have seen ED marketing and whether they believe ED marketing targets them. Methods: Participant data were drawn from 'AMPED UP: An Energy Drink Study', where 3688 students in grades 7–12 (age 12–17 years) from 25 randomly selected secondary schools in Western Australia were asked if they had ever seen ED advertising on television, posters/signs in shops, online/internet, movies, cars/vehicles, social media, magazines/newspapers, music videos, video games, merchandise and free samples. Participants were also shown three ED advertisements and asked, 'Which age group/s do you think this ad targets?' (12 years or less, 13–17 years, 18–23 years, 24 years or older) and could select multiple age groups for each advertisement. Results: On average, participants saw ED advertising on 6.5 (SD = 2.5) of 11 possible marketing channels, including television (seen by 91% of participants), posters/signs in shops (88%), online/internet (82%) and movies (71%). Participants also perceived ED advertisements targeted children (< 18 years). Conclusions: ED marketing has a high reach among Western Australian children. The voluntary ED advertising pledge to not market EDs to children in Australia does not prevent children from seeing or being targeted by ED marketing. So What?: Stronger regulatory control of ED marketing is needed to better protect children from the appeal and adverse health risks of ED use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue addressed: To examine the potential impact on trends in reported adolescent sugar‐sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption following the adult‐targeted Western Australian (WA) LiveLighter "Sugary Drinks" campaign, which is a television‐led healthy lifestyle promotion and education mass media campaign that aired in multiple bursts between July 2013 and December 2018. Methods: Data were from a repeated cross‐sectional survey of Australian secondary school students aged 12‐17 years conducted nation‐wide in 2009‐2010 (n = 13 790 from 238 schools), 2012‐2013 (n = 10 309 from 196 schools) and 2018 (n = 9102 from 104 schools). Results: Significant declines in high SSB consumption (≥4 cups/week) were observed between 2009‐2010 and 2012‐2013 among students in both WA (27.1% vs 20.3%; odds ratio [OR] = 0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.50‐0.84, P =.001) and all other states and territories combined (30.6% vs 21.4%; OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.53‐0.68, P <.001). Compared to 2012‐2013, the proportion of students in WA who reported high SSB consumption was significantly lower in 2018 (20.3% vs 9.6%; OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.21‐0.65, P =.001), whereas this significant decrease was not observed in all other states and territories combined (21.4% vs 17.8%; OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67‐0.97, P =.024). Interaction testing indicated that the recent decline observed in WA was more pronounced among female than male students. Conclusions: Mass media campaigns targeted towards the Australian adult population may have favourable effects among adolescents with the steeper decline in high SSB consumption observed in WA between 2012‐2013 and 2018 coinciding with the repeated airing of the LiveLighter "Sugary Drinks" campaign in this state. So what?: Government investment in mass media campaigns may hasten declines in adolescents' SSB consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Widespread commercial promotion of alcohol products in Australia undermines the abstinence message for young people. This study aims to document the frequency of adolescents' exposure to alcohol advertising and examine associations with drinking behaviours. Methods: Students aged 12–17 years (n = 3618) participating in a cross‐sectional survey self‐reported their exposure to alcohol advertising via eight sources. Students also indicated whether they had never consumed alcohol, consumed at least a few sips of alcohol in their lifetime but none in the past month ('irregular drinkers') or consumed more than 10 drinks in their lifetime including at least one drink in the past month ('drinkers'). Multinomial logistic regression analyses examined associations between both single‐channel and cumulative exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking status, controlling for sex, age and education sector. Results: Television (61%), the internet (56%) and at sporting events (50%) were the most common channels through which students reported seeing alcohol advertising. Weekly exposure via each of the eight assessed channels was associated with being a drinker (vs. a non‐drinker or an irregular drinker, respectively), whereas only weekly exposure via television and sporting events was associated with being an irregular drinker (vs. a non‐drinker). As students' level of cumulative exposure to alcohol advertising increased, so too did their likelihood of being a drinker. Discussion and Conclusions: Alcohol advertising exposure is positively associated with drinking among Australian adolescents. Tighter restrictions on alcohol advertising across all media in Australia may reduce adolescent exposure and help de‐normalise alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although it has been traditionally assumed that dysregulation of psychological processes in smokers results from activity within specific brain regions, an emerging view regards such dysregulation as attributable to aberrant communication between distinct brain regions. These processes can be measured during appropriate task paradigms such as the learning from errors task. This study aims to elucidate interactions between brain regions underlying the process of learning from errors, punishment and sensitivity to reward in dependent smokers. Methods: Functional MRI data from 23 age‐matched dependent smokers (8 females, mean age = 25.48, SD = 4.46) and 23 controls (13 females, mean age = 24.83, SD = 5.99) were analysed during a feedback‐based associative learning task. Functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, nucleus accumbens and reward/sensorimotor areas was investigated during a feedback learning task. Results: Behaviourally, smokers exhibited lower error correction rates and were less sensitive to punishment magnitude. Smokers showed increased functional connectivity between dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/nucleus accumbens seed regions and numerous reward‐related target regions including the putamen, anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex. Conclusions: Reduced learning from errors and widespread aberrant functional connectivity contribute to the emerging functional characterisation of dependent smokers and may bear significant implications when considering the efficacy of smoking interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue addressed: Smoking near hospital entrances occurs frequently despite smoke‐free policies, resulting in multiple issues including second‐hand smoke exposure (SHS) to vulnerable populations. Primary school children were engaged through their health curriculum to produce antismoking audio recordings for broadcast over a hospital entrance loudspeaker system to determine if this reduced smoking. Method: Students produced original recordings against hospital grounds smoking during class workshops, from which a collection (n = 16) was selected. Episodes of entrance smoking and total entrance traffic were recorded using security camera infrastructure over a 5‐week period. A computer‐controlled entrance loudspeaker played a message which was followed by silence until a new (different) message was played. Intensity of messaging was moderate in week 3 (every 5 minutes), increasing to high in week 4 (3 minutely) and compared to no messages (weeks 1‐2 preintervention) and week 5 (postintervention). Results: Smokers presented 316 times, smoking 523 cigarettes over 155 hours of observation (patients 70.6%, visitors 29.4%). SHS exposure was high given 172 others used the entrance/hour. Smoking was highest in the preintervention period (weeks 1‐2), median five cigarettes/hr [IQR,3‐7 (min = 0, max = 12)], falling to four cigarettes/hr during 5‐minutely broadcasts [IQR,2‐5 (min = 1, max = 14)] (P =.06), but zero cigarettes/hr during 3‐minutely broadcasts [IQR,0‐1(min = 0, max = 7)] (P <.0001). Postintervention (no broadcasts), smoking increased from zero to 1 cigarette/hr [IQR,0‐3 (min = 0, max = 5)]; (P =.052). Nonsmoker movements did not change significantly between each period. Conclusion: Intensive (3 minutely) broadcasting of short antismoking messages significantly reduced hospital entrance smoking. So what?: Health services can positively interact with the health curriculum of primary schools against tobacco use while developing low‐cost strategies to effectively deter entrance smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaping‐related illnesses are on the rise. Various anti‐vaping campaigns have been launched, but these marketing campaigns may be missing a core component of the reason that consumers vape—consumers perceive vaping as more moral than alternatives. Our research builds off belief congruence theory to examine this conjecture and accompanying solutions through three studies. Studies 1 and 2 show positive relationships between vaping morality perceptions and vaping attitudes/behavior in addition to identifying religiosity as an explanatory factor. Study 3 then experimentally manipulated marketing messaging to show that morality‐based messaging was most effective at increasing immorality perceptions and decreasing positive affect toward vaping, particularly for higher religiosity consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Smoking is one of the world's major health problems and dental professionals are in a unique position to promote smoking cessation. However, according to the current literature, neither dental students nor dentists feel adequately prepared to counsel smokers. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a teaching intervention on smoking cessation for fourth‐year dental students and assess its effectiveness in terms of learning outcome on knowledge, communication skills and attitudes. Materials and Methods: In this prospective intervention study, students in the intervention group (n = 28) participated in a teaching module consisting of a podcast, an interactive lecture, a seminar, and small‐group sessions with role‐play interactions. Knowledge, communication skills and attitudes were measured using written examinations and an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) at the end of the module and 6 months later. Results were compared with data from a historical control group (n = 27) receiving standard teaching. Results: Compared with the control group, students in the intervention group had higher scores in the knowledge test (67.1% vs 41.8%; P <.001; d = 2.8) as well as in the OSCE (74.9% vs 44.7%; P <.001; d = 2.3) and also retained more knowledge (52.7% vs 36.5%; P <.001; d = 2.0) and skills (71.8% vs 47.6%; P <.001; d = 2.5) over a period of 6 months. Attitudes were similar across groups and time‐points. Conclusion: The teaching intervention equipped dental students with specific knowledge and skills required to effectively counsel smoking patients. Further research is required to assess the transfer of these skills to the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E‐cigarettes (e‐cigs) have been initially proposed as an aid to smoke cessation in adults, whereas they turned into a paradoxical preferential gateway to tobacco and nicotine initiation for adolescents naïve to tobacco. More than 25% of US school‐age students is an e‐cigs user with a steep rise over the past years. A marketing strategy on media and social network targeting youths, in the absence of rules to protect the pediatric users, resulted in an unprecedented trend up in tobacco consumption among adolescents and gave rise to a new generation of nicotine‐addicted teenagers. Flavored e‐cigs liquids and aerosols contain airway irritants and toxicants, that, in turn, produced an increase in asthma prevalence and its exacerbations among adolescents. In addition, since August 2019 an outbreak of e‐cigarette, or vaping, product use‐associated lung injury (EVALI) has been described. In view of this, e‐cigs must no longer be considered harmless, especially in adolescents never used a tobacco product before. This is a call‐for‐action to establish effective rules and campaigns targeting youths aimed to limit their access to e‐cigs, thereby preserving the potential benefit in quitting tobacco addiction described in adults. Behavioral and educational actions, out of the conventional primary care setting, have been described as a model for a youth‐centered campaign. We call for stricter regulations on e‐cigs products, with respect to their marketing to the youngest ones, along with public health and primary care interventions that could curb the spread of this "vaping" epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although public anti‐smoking campaigns have undoubtedly paid off, their scope has been rather limited. This paper aims to contribute to this debate and provide a theoretical foundation based on the perceptions of female smokers that could provide guidance for the planning and design of more effective anti‐smoking campaigns. To attain this end, this study resorts to the concept of Perceived Value (PV). A scale of measurement was drawn up from the conceptualization of the Smoking PV (SPV) founded on a review of the specialized literature on smoking habits and an empirical study drawn from a sampling of female smokers. Results offer empirical evidence on the utility of the SPV both to improve our understanding of the perceived smoker experience and to predict intentions to quit smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the signing of H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gained regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. A notable clause in this Act permits the FDA to regulate nicotine yields. However, they cannot completely remove this addictive constituent from tobacco products. This restriction has prompted the FDA to seek research on the threshold dose of nicotine that does not support dependence. This idea of threshold dose has led to an interesting reframing of scientific questions. For example, some researchers studying nicotine from this regulatory perspective translated the notion of an addiction threshold to a construct thought to play a role in addiction but which can be more readily operationalized. Examples include reinforcement threshold, discrimination threshold, and reinforcer‐enhancement threshold. In this Perspective Paper, we highlight the importance of behavioral pharmacology and, specifically, the experimental analysis of behavior to help establish a scientific basis for policy decisions regarding nicotine yields. Recent research, including exemplars provided herein, note vast individual differences in the effects of nicotine at a known dose. Unfortunately, the behavioral and biological factors that contribute to such individual variations remain to be understood. We believe that behavior analysts are uniquely well‐positioned to contribute to this understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent studies on the effects of anti‐smoking policies on subjective well‐being present mixed results and do not account for potential externalities, especially among couples. We contribute to the literature by evaluating the impact of smoking bans on well‐being externalities among smokers and non‐smokers as well as couples of different types of smokers. We exploit the policy experiment provided by the timing of the UK public smoking bans and measure well‐being via the GHQ. We employ matching techniques combined with flexible difference‐in‐differences fixed effects panel data models on data from the British Household Panel Survey. The joint use of matching with fixed effects specifications allows building more comparable treatment and control groups, producing less model‐dependent results and accounting for individual‐level unobserved heterogeneity. We find that public smoking bans appear to have a statistically significant short‐term positive impact on the well‐being of married individuals, especially among women with dependent children. These effects appear to be robust to alternative specifications and placebo tests and are discussed in the light of the economic theory and recent evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aims: To assess the cost‐effectiveness of a two‐component intervention designed to increase attendance at the NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSSs) in England. Design: Cost‐effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial (Start2quit). Setting: NHS SSS and general practices in England. Participants: The study comprised 4384 smokers aged 16 years or more identified from medical records in 99 participating practices, who were motivated to quit and had not attended the SSS in the previous 12 months. Intervention and comparator: Intervention was a personalized and tailored letter sent from the general practitioner (GP) and a personal invitation and appointment to attend a taster session providing information about SSS. Control was a standard generic letter from the GP advertising SSS and asking smokers to contact the service to make an appointment. Measurements: Costs measured from an NHS/personal social services perspective, estimated health gains in quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALYs) measured with EQ‐5D and incremental cost per QALY gained during both 6 months and a life‐time horizon. Findings: During the trial period, the adjusted mean difference in costs was £92 [95% confidence interval (CI) = –£32 to –£216) and the adjusted mean difference in QALY gains was 0.002 (95% CI = –0.001 to 0.004). This generates an incremental cost per QALY gained of £59 401. The probability that the tailored letter and taster session is more cost‐effective than the generic letter at 6 months is never above 50%. In contrast, the discounted life‐time health‐care cost was lower in the intervention group, while the life‐time QALY gains were significantly higher. The probability that the intervention is more cost‐effective is more than 83% using a £20 000–30 000 per QALY‐gained decision‐making threshold. Conclusions: An intervention designed to increase attendance at the NHS Stop Smoking Services (tailored letter and taster session in the services) appears less likely to be cost‐effective than a generic letter in the short term, but is likely to become more cost‐effective than the generic letter during the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To describe the retail availability of tobacco and to examine the association between tobacco outlet density and area-level remoteness and socio-economic status classification in Tasmania.Design: Ecological cross-sectional study; analysis of tobacco retail outlet data collected by the Department of Health and Human Services (Tasmania) according to area-level (Statistical Areas Level 2) remoteness (defined by the Remoteness Structure of the Australian Statistical Geographical Standard) and socio-economic status (defined by the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage).Main Outcome Measure: Tobacco retail outlet density per 1000 residents.Results: On 31 December 2016, there were 1.54 tobacco retail outlets per 1000 persons. The density of outlets was 79% greater in suburbs or towns in outer regional, remote and very remote Tasmania than in inner regional Tasmania (rate ratio [RR], 1.79; 95% confidence Interval [CI], 1.29-2.50; P < 0.001). Suburbs or towns in Tasmania with the greatest socio-economic disadvantage had more than twice the number of tobacco outlets per 1000 people as areas of least disadvantage (RR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.32-4.21; P = 0.014).Conclusions: A disproportionate concentration of tobacco retail outlets in regional and remote Tasmania and in areas of lowest socio-economic status is evident. Our findings are consistent with those of analyses in New South Wales and Western Australia. Progressive tobacco retail restrictions have been proposed as the next frontier in tobacco control. However, the intended and unintended consequences of such policies need to be investigated, particularly for socio-economically deprived and rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To estimate (1) the immediate impact; (2) the cumulative impact; and (3) the duration of impact of Scottish tobacco control TV mass media campaigns (MMCs) on smoking cessation activity, as measured by calls to Smokeline and the volume of prescribed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Design Multivariate time-series analysis using secondary data on population level measures of exposure to TV MMCs broadcast and smoking cessation activity between 2003 and 2012. Setting and participants Population of Scotland. Measurements Adult television viewer ratings (TVRs) as a measure of exposure to Scottish mass media campaigns in the adult population; monthly calls to NHS Smokeline; and the monthly volume of prescribed NRT as measured by gross ingredient costs (GIC). Findings Tobacco control TVRs were associated with an increase in calls to Smokeline but not an increase in the volume of prescribed NRT. A 1 standard deviation (SD) increase of 194 tobacco control TVRs led to an immediate and significant increase of 385.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 171.0, 600.7] calls to Smokeline (unadjusted model) within 1 month. When adjusted for seasonality the impact was reduced, but the increase in calls remained significant (226.3 calls, 95% CI = 37.3, 415.3). The cumulative impact on Smokeline calls remained significant for 6 months after broadcast in the unadjusted model and 18 months in the adjusted model. However, an increase in tobacco control TVRs of 194 failed to have a significant impact on the GIC of prescribed NRT in either the unadjusted (£1361.4, 95% CI = -£9138.0, £11860.9) or adjusted (£6297.1, 95% CI = -£2587.8, £15182.1) models. Conclusions Tobacco control television mass media campaigns broadcast in Scotland between 2003 and 2012 were effective in triggering calls to Smokeline, but did not increase significantly the use of prescribed nicotine replacement therapy by adult smokers. The impact on calls to Smokeline occurred immediately within 1 month of broadcast and was sustained for at least 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims Quitting smoking is the most potent way to reduce the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes, and public health objectives in the United States include dramatic increases in the proportion of smokers making a serious quit attempt each year. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has, since 2000, set as its Healthy People 2020 objective to encourage 80% of smokers to make a serious quit attempt per year. This study assessed the trend in quit attempts from 2009 to 2014. Design We examined the percentage of US smokers making a serious quit attempt each year from 2009 to 2014 from the repeating cross-sectional National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Setting United States. Participants The number of qualifying respondents per year ranged from 5748 in 2010 to 7219 in 2012, with a total of 40 362 respondents included in the analysis. Measurements Respondents were deemed to have made a serious quit attempt if they were either current smokers who reported that they stopped smoking for more than 1 day in the past 12 months because they were trying to quit smoking, or reported being former smokers (smoked 100+ cigarettes life-time, but now not smoking) who quit in the past year. Findings Analyses of trends from 2009 to 2014 showed an overall linear increase in quit attempts [odds ratio (OR) = 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.04, P = 0.0075], but also a quadratic trend (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 1.00-1.02, P = 0.0189). Conclusions The proportion of US smokers making a serious quit attempt has increased since 2009, due to an upward trend since 2011. The 2014 serious quit attempt rate was 55.0%. These rates are still below the Healthy People 2020 objective of 80% of smokers making a serious quit attempt per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses campaign arise from Kate Granger's experience as a patient and following being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Topics include discussion with hospital staff, colleagues to support medical school for the purchase of equipment; and a campaign to improve the feelings of self-worth, and greater confidence when talking to faculty members.

The author comments on the effectiveness of suing tobacco firms aimed at recovering the health care costs in Australia.

The article offers information on the challenges experienced by the Australian government in regulating tobacco sale in the country due to the wide accessibility in communities.

This study examined the direct and indirect associations of general and smoking-specific parenting practices with Chinese adolescents' smoking behaviors. Adolescents aged 14-17 years (N = 658) and their parents were recruited from three high schools in mainland China. Adolescents completed an anonymous online survey on their smoking behaviors, perceptions of parenting behaviors, and smoking-related cognitions including attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Parents completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire on their parenting behaviors. Results indicated that psychological control and frequency of communication about smoking were positively linked to adolescent smoking through the mediation of two smoking-related cognitions-attitude and subjective norm. Parental knowledge of adolescent activities, disapproval of adolescent smoking, and home rules were negatively linked to adolescent smoking through the mediation of attitude and subjective norm. Results suggest that parenting practices and smoking-related cognitions are critical components to be incorporated in prevention and intervention programs for adolescent smoking in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies indicate that people respond defensively to threatening health information, especially when the information challenges self-relevant goals. The authors investigated whether reduced acceptance of self-relevant health risk information is already visible in early attention allocation processes. In two experimental studies, participants were watching high- and low-threat health commercials, and at the same time had to pay attention to specific odd auditory stimuli in a sequence of frequent auditory stimuli (odd ball paradigm). The amount of attention allocation was measured by recording event-related brain potentials (i.e., P300 ERPs) and reaction times. Smokers showed larger P300 amplitudes in response to the auditory targets while watching high-threat instead of low-threat anti-smoking commercials. In contrast, non-smokers showed smaller P300 amplitudes during watching high as opposed to low threat anti-smoking commercials. In conclusion, the findings provide further neuroscientific support for the hypothesis that threatening health information causes more avoidance responses among those for whom the health threat is self-relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient-centred tobacco management approaches tobacco smoking as a chronic disease and can be offered to all smokers irrespective of their attitude to quitting. Maintaining a long-term relationship with smokers enables the adoption of flexible solutions and shared goals. It is argued that patient-centred tobacco management potentially heightens the chances of eventual abstinence for smokers who are unable, or not yet ready to quit. [ Gould, GS. Patient-centred tobacco management. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:93-98] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the characteristics and role of researcher Fiona Stanley in public health advocacy for children in Australia. He says that Stanley has played a great role in promoting public health among Australian children through her participation in anti-tobacco and alcohol campaigns. Furthermore, he considers Stanley as example of an excellent researcher and a model for child health advocates.

Issue addressed: This paper reports on the evaluation of a culturally specific smoking cessation training program (SmokeCheck) for health professionals working in Aboriginal health in NSW. Training aimed to increase professionals' knowledge, skills and confidence to offer an evidence-based quit smoking brief intervention to Aboriginal clients. Methods: Using a quasi-experimental pre-post with 165 matched intervention participants, surveys were completed immediately before (baseline) and 6-months post training. The control group were on a waiting list for 6 months before receiving the intervention, and completed surveys at baseline, immediately before training and 3-6 months following training. Surveys assessed knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver the intervention, availability of resources, and smoke-free status of homes. Results: Post training, a higher proportion of intervention group participants were more confident talking about health effects (22%, p=0.001), offering quit advice (27%, p=0.001), assessing readiness to quit (31%, p=0.001) and initiating a conversation about smoking (24%, p=0.001). After training, more participants reported providing advice about NRT (15%, p=0.001), ETS (12%, p=0.006), and reducing tobacco use (10%, p=0.034), but no changes were reported in smoking or intention to quit. Conversely, the control group showed no significant changes. Conclusions: SmokeCheck training strengthened participants' knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver a smoking cessation intervention to Aboriginal clients.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the efforts of the Australian government and the tobacco industry to launch the plain packaging for tobacco products containing strong warnings on health effects of smoking. The topics discussed include the legislation of the Irish and British government to require tobacco manufacturers to unveil plain packaging, the effectiveness of the scheme in stopping smoking, and the statistics that detail the decline of tobacco consumption in Australia from 2012 to 2014.

Issue addressed: School-based programs targeting the prevention of tobacco use are a key strategy for reducing the overall tobacco-related mortality and morbidity in the community. While substantial research investment has resulted in the identification of various effective tobacco prevention interventions in schools, this research investment will not result in public health benefits, unless effectively disseminated and implemented. This rapid review aimed to identify effective implementation or dissemination interventions, targeting the adoption of school-based tobacco prevention programs. Methods: A systematic search was conducted to identify published systematic reviews that examined the effectiveness of implementation and dissemination strategies for facilitating the adoption of tobacco policies or programs in schools from 1992 to 2012. Results: The search yielded 1028 results, with one relevant systematic review being identified. The review included two controlled studies examining the implementation and dissemination of tobacco prevention programs and guidelines. The two randomised trials examined the delivery of active face-to-face training to implement a school-based curriculum compared with video-delivered or mail-based training. Improvements in the implementation of the programs were reported for the faceto- face training arm in both trials. Conclusions: Little rigorous evidence exists to guide the implementation and dissemination of tobacco prevention programs in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient-centred tobacco management is a pragmatic approach for helping smokers achieve their goals in terms of either cessation or harm reduction. However, the success of the approach is dependent on clinicians embracing and delivering it as intended. There are a number of structural and systemic organisational barriers which are limiting clinician-delivered patient-centred tobacco dependence. In response, 'whole system' approaches which help support clinicians in the delivery of patient-centred tobacco management are required. Health system changes to support clinicians and facilitate the delivery of patient-centred tobacco management are worth further investigation, particularly in settings where tobacco smoking rates are high. [ Bonevski B. System-centred tobacco management: From 'whole-person' to 'whole-system' change. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:99-101] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Cancer Institute regarding the Americans' use of tobacco products. The findings show that the cigarette smoking rates among adults decline but a public health crisis emerges among young people with the use of e-cigarette.

The article focuses on a digital media advertisement to discourage kids from using electronic cigarettes launched by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The article reports that the Australian governments have achieved reductions in population level smoking rates after four decades of intense and innovative tobacco control policies and programs. The focus of the approach has been to reduce consumer demand for tobacco products through high tobacco taxes, emotive campaigns, graphic health warnings on packages and bans on all forms of tobacco advertising.

According to previous research, cigarette pictorial warnings are effective in not only preventing smoking but also in inducing smoking cessation. In Korea, however, the smoking rate has not changed much despite implementing pictorial warnings on cigarette packaging. Thus, in this study, I focused on how smokers perceive cigarette pictorial warnings. To do this, I conducted in‐depth interviews with cigarette buyers at a convenience store where real cigarettes were purchased, and I observed their behaviors at the same time. Thirty buyers responded to the interview. During the interviews, respondents said that when they first saw a tobacco warning picture, they were affected by it at the moment, but it did not help at all to quit smoking. Rather, they justified smoking by considering the warning picture as a picture or a cigarette company logo. They also had a positive illusion of, "It will never happen to me" about the smoking‐related illnesses presented in the warning pictures. Above all, cigarette warning pictures were not effective in reducing rates of smoking. This means that the tobacco warning picture policy did not properly influence smokers' perceptions. Further research on the usefulness of cigarette pictorial warning is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of the article "FDA Extends Oversight to All Tobacco Products" that was published in the July 1, 2016 issue of the journal "Cancer Scope." The topics discussed include the finalization of the ruling of the government agency the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on tobacco products and electronic cigarettes and the implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.

The article discusses efforts of the U.S.- based the drugstore chain CVS Caremark and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as of June 2014. Topics discussed include prohibition of tobacco sales in its US stores by CVS, the U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, and FDA's national public education campaign to prevent teen tobacco use and to reduce the number of smokers in the country.