Youth perception of harm and addictiveness of tobacco products: Findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (Wave 1)

Purpose: We provide a US national assessment of youth perceptions of the harm and addictiveness of six separate tobacco products, identifying a continuum of perceived harm associated with a range of products in relation to patterns of current use, former use, and susceptibility to use tobacco products.

Methods: We evaluated youth respondents (N = 13,651) ages 12-17 from Wave 1 (2013-2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. Analyses (2015-2016) focused on refining measures of perceived harm for each product and delineating youth characteristics (demographic, tobacco use status) associated with beliefs about the harmfulness and addictiveness of tobacco products.

Results: Cigars, hookah and e-cigarettes were each perceived as having significantly lower harm (p's < 0.05) than smokeless products, with the lowest ratings of harmfulness and addictiveness observed for hookah and e-cigarettes (p's < 0.001). Incrementally lower levels of harm and addictiveness perceptions were observed among youth at increasing risk for tobacco use (p's < 0.05).

Conclusions: Among U.S. youth, lower perceptions of harm and addictiveness of tobacco products were associated with susceptibility to use tobacco and patterns of tobacco product use. Future longitudinal assessments from the PATH Study can provide key information on youth development of perceptions of harm and addictiveness and influences on patterns of tobacco use.