OP57 #Does parental smoking explain impacts of smoke-free public places legislation on youth smoking initiation in the UK?

IntroductionSmoke-free public places legislation has been introduced in many countries to protect the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoking. While evaluations of smoke-free policies have demonstrated major public health benefits, the impact on youth smoking and inequalities in smoking remains unclear. This project aims to evaluate how smoke-free public places legislation in the UK has impacted on inequalities in youth smoking uptake, and how much of any impact is via changes in parental smoking behaviour.Methods and analysisThe study will constitute secondary analyses of UK data (from the British Household Panel Survey and the Understanding Society study). Merging these datasets gives coverage of the period from 1994 to 2016. Missing data will be handled using multiple imputation. The primary outcomes are the rates and inequalities in initiation, experimentation, escalation to daily smoking and quitting among youths aged 11–15 years. Secondary outcomes include the prevalence of smoking among parents of these youths. Discrete-time event history analysis will be conducted to examine whether changes in the probability of youth smoking transitions are associated with the implementation of the smoke-free public places legislation; and whether any observed effects differ by socioeconomic position and parental smoking. A multilevel logistic regression model will be used to investigate whether there is a step change or change in trend for the prevalence of parental smoking after the policy was implemented. The models will be adjusted for relevant factors (including cigarette taxation, the change in the legal age for purchase of cigarettes and e-cigarette prevalence) that may be associated with the implementation of the legislation.Ethics and disseminationThis project will use anonymised survey data which have been collected following independent ethical review. The dissemination of the study findings will adopt multiple communication channels targeting both scientific and non-scientific audiences.

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Impact of UK Tobacco Control Policies on Inequalities in Youth Smoking Uptake: A Natural Experiment Study

Nicotine & Tobacco Research ◽

10.1093/ntr/ntaa101 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

pp. 1973-1980 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Philip Emeka Anyanwu ◽

Peter Craig ◽

Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi ◽

Michael James Green

Keyword(s):

Parental Education ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Youth Smoking ◽

Public Places ◽

Tobacco Control Policies ◽

Occasional Smoking ◽

Smoking Uptake ◽

Tobacco Taxation ◽

Smoking Transitions

Abstract Introduction UK countries implemented smoke-free public places legislation and increased the legal age for tobacco purchase from 16 to 18 years between 2006 and 2008. We evaluated the immediate and long-term impacts of these UK policy changes on youth smoking uptake and inequalities therein. Aims and Methods We studied 74 960 person-years of longitudinal data from 14 992 youths (aged 11–15 years) in annual UK household surveys between 1994 and 2016. Discrete-time event history analyses examined whether changes in rates of youth smoking transitions (initiation, experimentation, and escalation to daily smoking or quitting) or their inequalities (by parental education) were associated with policy implementation. Parallel analyses examined smoke-free legislation and the change in legal age. We interpret the results as a combined effect of the two pieces of legislation as their implementation dates were too close to identify separate effects. Models were adjusted for sex, age, UK country, historical year, tobacco taxation, and e-cigarette prevalence, with multiple imputation for missing data. Results For both policies, smoking initiation reduced following implementation (change in legal age odds ratio [OR]: 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55 to 0.81; smoke-free legislation OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.82), while inequalities in initiation narrowed over subsequent years. The legal age change was associated with annual increases in progression from initiation to occasional smoking (OR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.50) and a reduction in quitting following implementation (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.94). Similar effects were observed for smoke-free legislation but CIs overlapped the null. Conclusions Policies such as these may be highly effective in preventing and reducing socioeconomic inequalities in youth smoking initiation. Implications UK implementation of smoke-free legislation and an increase in the legal age for tobacco purchase from 16 to 18 years were associated with an immediate reduction in smoking initiation and a narrowing of inequalities in initiation over subsequent years. While the policies were associated with reductions in the initiation, progression to occasional smoking increased and quitting decreased following the legislation.

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Youth vaping and smoking and parental vaping: a panel survey

10.21203/rs.2.22187/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Green ◽

Linsay Gray ◽

Helen Sweeting

Keyword(s):

Smoking Status ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Smoking Behaviour ◽

Residual Effects ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Youth Smoking ◽

Unmeasured Confounding ◽

Youth Population ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

The Uk

Abstract Background: Concerns remain about potential negative impacts of e-cigarettes including possibilities that: youth e-cigarette use (vaping) increases risk of youth smoking; and vaping by parents may have impacts on their children’s vaping and smoking behaviour.Methods: With panel data from 3291 youth aged 10-15 years from the 7th wave of the UK Understanding Society Survey (2015-2017), we estimated effects of youth vaping on youth smoking (ever, current and past year initiation), and of parental vaping on youth smoking and vaping, and examined whether the latter differed by parental smoking status. Propensity weighting was used to adjust for measured confounders and estimate average effects of vaping for all youth, and among youth who vaped. E-values were calculated to assess the strength of unmeasured confounding influences needed to negate our estimates.Results: Associations between youth vaping and youth smoking were attenuated considerably by adjustment for measured confounders. Estimated average effects of youth vaping on youth smoking were stronger for all youth (e.g. OR for smoking initiation: 32.5; 95% CI: 9.8-107.1) than among youth who vaped (OR: 4.4; 0.6-30.9). Relatively strong unmeasured confounding would be needed to explain these effects. Associations between parental vaping and youth vaping were explained by measured confounders. Estimates indicated effects of parental vaping on youth smoking, especially for youth with ex-smoking parents (e.g. OR for smoking initiation: 11.3; 2.7-46.4) rather than youth with currently smoking parents (OR: 1.0; 0.2-6.4), but these could be explained by relatively weak unmeasured confounding.Conclusions: While measured confounding accounted for much of the associations between youth vaping and youth smoking, indicating support for underlying propensities, our estimates suggested residual effects that could only be explained away by considerable unmeasured confounding or by smoking leading to vaping. Estimated effects of youth vaping on youth smoking were stronger among the general youth population than among the small group of youth who actually vaped. Associations of parental vaping with youth smoking and vaping were either explained by measured confounding or could be relatively easily explained by unmeasured confounding.

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Youth vaping and smoking and parental vaping: a panel survey

10.21203/rs.2.22187/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Green ◽

Linsay Gray ◽

Helen Sweeting

Keyword(s):

Smoking Status ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Smoking Behaviour ◽

Residual Effects ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Youth Smoking ◽

Unmeasured Confounding ◽

Youth Population ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

The Uk

Abstract Background: Concerns remain about potential negative impacts of e-cigarettes including possibilities that: youth e-cigarette use (vaping) increases risk of youth smoking; and vaping by parents may have impacts on their children’s vaping and smoking behaviour.Methods: With panel data from 3291 youth aged 10-15 years from the 7th wave of the UK Understanding Society Survey (2015-2017), we estimated effects of youth vaping on youth smoking (ever, current and past year initiation), and of parental vaping on youth smoking and vaping, and examined whether the latter differed by parental smoking status. Propensity weighting was used to adjust for measured confounders and estimate average effects of vaping for all youth, and among youth who vaped. E-values were calculated to assess the strength of unmeasured confounding influences needed to negate our estimates.Results: Associations between youth vaping and youth smoking were attenuated considerably by adjustment for measured confounders. Estimated average effects of youth vaping on youth smoking were stronger for all youth (e.g. OR for smoking initiation: 32.5; 95% CI: 9.8-107.1) than among youth who vaped (OR: 4.4; 0.6-30.9). Relatively strong unmeasured confounding would be needed to explain these effects. Associations between parental vaping and youth vaping were explained by measured confounders. Estimates indicated effects of parental vaping on youth smoking, especially for youth with ex-smoking parents (e.g. OR for smoking initiation: 11.3; 2.7-46.4) rather than youth with currently smoking parents (OR: 1.0; 0.2-6.4), but these could be explained by relatively weak unmeasured confounding.Conclusions: While measured confounding accounted for much of the associations between youth vaping and youth smoking, indicating support for underlying propensities, our estimates suggested residual effects that could only be explained away by considerable unmeasured confounding or by smoking leading to vaping. Estimated effects of youth vaping on youth smoking were stronger among the general youth population than among the small group of youth who actually vaped. Associations of parental vaping with youth smoking and vaping were either explained by measured confounding or could be relatively easily explained by unmeasured confounding.

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In Masks we Trust: Explicit and Implicit Reactions to Masked Faces Vary by Voting Intention

10.31234/osf.io/9d4eu ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gordon Ingram ◽

Erick Gustavo Chuquichambi ◽

William Jimenez-Leal ◽

Antonio Olivera-LaRosa

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Social Desirability ◽

Political Orientation ◽

Public Places ◽

Reaction Time Measure ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

Negative Effect ◽

English Speaking ◽

The Uk

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused controversy over new norms of mask-wearing in public places. An online experiment previously showed that people from several Spanish-speaking countries perceived faces wearing medical-style masks as more trustworthy, socially desirable, and likely to be ill, compared to control faces without a mask. We replicated and extended these methods with 1241 English-speaking participants from the UK and USA, adding questions on political orientation and voting intention, and including the online-VAAST task to test the effects of masks on an implicit reaction-time measure. The positive effects of masks on trustworthiness and social desirability were replicated, but the negative effect of masks on perceptions of healthiness was reversed. Participants were also quicker to approach masked faces. Conservative voters’ explicit and implicit reactions to masked faces were less favorable than those of liberals, demonstrating that masks are viewed positively by many but continue to be politically controversial.

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Evidence for causal effects of lifetime smoking on risk for depression and schizophrenia: a Mendelian randomisation study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719002678 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (14) ◽

pp. 2435-2443 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Robyn E. Wootton ◽

Rebecca C. Richmond ◽

Bobby G. Stuijfzand ◽

Rebecca B. Lawn ◽

Hannah M. Sallis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Causal Effect ◽

Association Studies ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Smoking Behaviour ◽

Positive Control ◽

Mendelian Randomisation ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Weak Evidence ◽

Smoking Duration ◽

The Uk

AbstractBackgroundSmoking prevalence is higher amongst individuals with schizophrenia and depression compared with the general population. Mendelian randomisation (MR) can examine whether this association is causal using genetic variants identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS).MethodsWe conducted two-sample MR to explore the bi-directional effects of smoking on schizophrenia and depression. For smoking behaviour, we used (1) smoking initiation GWAS from the GSCAN consortium and (2) we conducted our own GWAS of lifetime smoking behaviour (which captures smoking duration, heaviness and cessation) in a sample of 462690 individuals from the UK Biobank. We validated this instrument using positive control outcomes (e.g. lung cancer). For schizophrenia and depression we used GWAS from the PGC consortium.ResultsThere was strong evidence to suggest smoking is a risk factor for both schizophrenia (odds ratio (OR) 2.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.67–3.08, p < 0.001) and depression (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.71–2.32, p < 0.001). Results were consistent across both lifetime smoking and smoking initiation. We found some evidence that genetic liability to depression increases smoking (β = 0.091, 95% CI 0.027–0.155, p = 0.005) but evidence was mixed for schizophrenia (β = 0.022, 95% CI 0.005–0.038, p = 0.009) with very weak evidence for an effect on smoking initiation.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the association between smoking, schizophrenia and depression is due, at least in part, to a causal effect of smoking, providing further evidence for the detrimental consequences of smoking on mental health.

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Impact of The Real Cost Media Campaign on Youth Smoking Initiation

American Journal of Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 645-651 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jennifer C. Duke ◽

Anna J. MacMonegle ◽

James M. Nonnemaker ◽

Matthew C. Farrelly ◽

Janine C. Delahanty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Smoking Initiation ◽

Media Campaign ◽

Youth Smoking ◽

The Real ◽

Real Cost

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Social influences and self-efficacy as predictors of youth smoking initiation and cessation: a 3-year longitudinal study of vocational high school students in Taiwan

Addiction ◽

10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01607.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 101 (11) ◽

pp. 1645-1655 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Fong-Ching Chang ◽

Ching-Mei Lee ◽

Hsiang-Ru Lai ◽

Jeng-Tung Chiang ◽

Pi-Hsia Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Social Influences ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Youth Smoking ◽

Vocational High School ◽

School Students

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Youth vaping and smoking and parental vaping: a cross-sectional survey

10.21203/rs.2.22187/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Green ◽

Linsay Gray ◽

Helen Sweeting

Keyword(s):

Smoking Status ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

Smoking Behaviour ◽

Youth Smoking ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Unmeasured Confounding ◽

Increase Risk ◽

Alternative Scenarios ◽

Negative Impacts

Abstract Background: Concerns remain about potential negative impacts of e-cigarettes including possibilities that: youth e-cigarette use (vaping) increases risk of youth smoking; and vaping by parents may have impacts on their children’s vaping and smoking behaviour. Methods: With cross-sectional data from 3291 youth aged 10-15 years from the Understanding Society Survey, we estimated effects of youth vaping on youth smoking (ever, current and initiation in the past year), and of parental vaping on youth smoking and vaping, and examined whether the latter differed by parental smoking status. Propensity weighting was used to adjust for measured confounders and estimate effects of vaping under alternative scenarios of no vaping vs universal adoption, and vs observed vaping levels. E-values were calculated to assess the strength of unmeasured confounding influences needed to negate our estimates. Results: Associations between youth vaping and youth smoking were attenuated considerably by adjustment for measured confounders. Estimated effects of youth vaping on youth smoking were stronger comparing no use to universal adoption (e.g. OR for smoking initiation: 32.5; 95% CI: 9.8-107.1) than to observed levels of youth vaping (OR: 4.4; 0.6-30.9). Relatively strong unmeasured confounding would be needed to explain these effects. Associations between parental vaping and youth vaping were explained by measured confounders. However, estimates for parental vaping on youth smoking indicated effects, especially for youth with ex-smoking parents (e.g. OR for smoking initiation: 11.3; 2.7-46.4) rather than youth with currently smoking parents (OR: 1.0; 0.2-6.4). Relatively weak unmeasured confounding could explain these parental vaping effects. Conclusions: While results for youth vaping and youth smoking associations indicated support for underlying propensities, estimated effects still required considerable unmeasured confounding to be explained fully. However, these estimates from cross-sectional data could also be explained by smoking leading to vaping. Stronger estimates for universal vaping adoption vs observed usage, indicated that if youth vaping does increase risk of youth smoking, this effect may be stronger in the general population of youth, than among those youth who typically vape. Associations of parental vaping with youth smoking and vaping were either explained by measured confounding or could be relatively easily explained by unmeasured confounding.

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Securing Public Places: New Zealand’s Private Security Sector as a National Security Enabler

National Security Journal ◽

10.36878/nsj201901.75 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 75-92

Author(s):

Nicholas Dynon

Keyword(s):

National Security ◽

Security Policy ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Private Security ◽

Public Places ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Massive Growth ◽

Security Personnel ◽

Training Standards ◽

The Uk

In recent years, national security policy makers globally have grappled with the challenge of addressing the vulnerability of ‘public spaces’ to terror attack. In the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks, it’s a challenge that has gained sudden urgency in New Zealand. Faced with the numeric impossibility of protecting infinite public spaces within their jurisdictions, several states have enacted strategies to utilise the considerable ‘eyes and ears’ capability of their private security personnel sectors. While the harnessing of numerically superior private security guard forces presents opportunities for a more linked-up approach to protecting the public, there are also significant barriers. Despite their massive growth in recent decades, private security industries the world over struggle with issues – both real and perceived – around pay and conditions, training, standards and professionalism. With the UK and Australia already having taken steps towards public-private security partnerships, to what extent does New Zealand’s private security guarding sector constitute a potential national security force-multiplier?

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