Increasing Effectiveness of Messages about Chemicals in Cigarette Smoke.

OBJECTIVES: Federal law requires informing the public on toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke. We sought the public's advice about communicating information about these chemicals. METHODS: Adolescents, young adults, and adults (N = 59), including smokers and non-smokers, participated in 9 focus groups that discussed inclusion of messages about toxic chemicals on cigarette packs, in media campaigns, and on a website. We transcribed, coded, and analyzed focus group audio-recordings. RESULTS: Participants had 3 suggestions for message content to increase the impact of messages about cigarette smoke chemicals. First, they wanted to see messages rotated more frequently to increase message novelty. Second, they recommended using stories and pictures to help connect people to the abstract idea of chemicals in smoke. Third, they cautioned against making messages that might seem overblown and could appeal to the rebellious nature of adolescents. Some participants mentioned that chemical information on a website might discourage people from smoking; others mentioned that people might use it to choose which brand to smoke. CONCLUSIONS: Legislation provides the impetus to design new chemical disclosure messages for cigarette packs and other media. Our findings can help increase the impact of these messages.

Linkages between gender equity and intimate partner violence among urban Brazilian youth.

PURPOSE: Gender inequity is a risk factor for intimate partner violence (IPV), although there is little research on this relationship that focuses on youth or males. Using survey data collected from 240 male and 198 female youth aged 15-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we explore the association between individual-level support for gender equity and IPV experiences in the past 6 months and describe responses to and motivations for IPV. METHODS: Factor analysis was used to construct gender equity scales for males and females. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between gender equity and IPV. RESULTS: About half of female youth reported some form of recent IPV, including any victimization (32%), any perpetration (40%), and both victimization and perpetration (22%). A total of 18% of male youth reported recently perpetrating IPV. In logistic regression models, support for gender equity had a protective effect against any female IPV victimization and any male IPV perpetration and was not associated with female IPV perpetration. Female victims reported leaving the abusive partner, but later returning to him as the most frequent response to IPV. Male perpetrators said the most common response of their victims was to retaliate with violence. Jealousy was the most frequently reported motivation of females perpetrating IPV. CONCLUSION: Gender equity is an important predictor of IPV among youth. Examining the gendered context of IPV will be useful in the development of targeted interventions to promote gender equity and healthy relationships and to help reduce IPV among youth.