The perceived risks of e-cigarettes to others and during pregnancy

Background Public Health England has concluded that e-cigarettes are much safer than cigarettes for the user and for secondhand exposures, but it has not reached a definitive conclusion regarding pregnancy risks. How people perceive the risks to others is less well understood. Methods This study uses an online UK sample of 1041 adults to examine perceived e-cigarette risks to others and during pregnancy. The survey examines relative risk beliefs of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes and the percentage reduction in harm provided by e-cigarettes. Results A majority of the sample believes that secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapors poses less risk than secondhand smoke from cigarettes, but almost two-fifths of the sample equate the secondhand risks from e-cigarettes to those from cigarettes. There is somewhat greater perception of e-cigarette risks during pregnancy compared to beliefs regarding secondhand risks of vaping. About two-fifths of the population believe that e-cigarettes are less risky than cigarettes during pregnancy. Respondents believe that e-cigarettes reduce the harm to others by 39% and the harm to babies by 36%. Conclusion There is a general sense that e-cigarettes pose less risk than cigarettes, but there is a need for further risk communication regarding comparative e-cigarette risks.

Future Intention to disclose personal information via mobile apps

This study analyses the future intention to disclose personal information in order to use mobile applications (apps) and the framing effect in relation to privacy concerns. To test the effects, an experiment was conducted involving 405 participants, using a single-factor design with independent groups and covariates. The results indicate concern about privacy is negatively related to the future intention, confirming the effects of framing on future intention, with the effect being negative in relation to the negative framing of trust beliefs and positive in relation to the positive framing of risk beliefs, while the moderating effect was not confirmed. Thus, this paper contributes to two specific areas: 1) privacy, because it confirms the relationship between information privacy concerns and future intention (new proposed scale); and 2) decision-making, as it demonstrates the effects of framing on risk and trust beliefs in future intentions, which, as far as is known, has not previously been shown.

The influence of COVID-19-specific health risk beliefs on the motivation to quit smoking

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some smokers have experienced increased motivation to quit smoking, due to the higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection. However, this is not found across all smokers, and the motivation to quit appears dependent upon factors such as fear of COVID-19 and perceived risk from COVID-19. In the current investigation, specific COVID-19 risk beliefs were measured to isolate which beliefs predicted the motivation to quit smoking, these being the perceived severity of COVID-19 and perceived probability of COVID-19 infection. UK based smokers (N = 243) completed an online survey between September and October 2020, in which they reported their current motivation to quit smoking, fear of COVID-19, and their beliefs about how severe COVID-19 infection would be and how probable COVID-19 infection was. The only significant predictor of the motivation to quit smoking was the perceived probability of COVID-19 infection. This positive relationship remained when controlling for the general perceived probability and severity of other smoking related health conditions, suggesting a COVID-19-specific effect. Further, fear of COVID-19 only indirectly related to an increase in motivation to quit, when mediated through perceived probability of COVID-19 infection. The result places the perceived probability of COVID-19 infection as a central predictor of motivation to quit during the pandemic. Based on this evidence, messaging to smokers aiming to facilitate smoking cessation during the pandemic should focus on the highly contagious nature of the virus, to increase the motivation to quit.