James F Thrasher
Biographic Data
| ID | 98316 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James F Thrasher |
| GIVEN NAMES | James F |
| FAMILY NAME | Thrasher |
| SIGNATURE | THRASHER J F |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of South Carolina |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6418-4863 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 143 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 49 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 143 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Association Between Adolescent Mental Health Symptoms and Characteristics of Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use
INTRODUCTION: While there is a bi-directional relationship between internalizing mental health (IMH) symptoms (i.e., symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety) and nicotine use, it is unclear how IMH relates to patterns of use. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively examine the relationship between IMH symptoms and indicators of nicotine dependence, quit intentions, and quit attempts among adolescents who use cigarettes and/or e-cigaret…
Optimizing Little Cigar and Cigarillo Warnings for Youth
Background Pictorial warnings are superior to text-only warnings for cigarettes. However, little research has examined the impact of cigar warnings among youth, including image characteristics that may increase their effectiveness.Methods We conducted an online within-subjects experiment September-October 2022 among N = 680 youth ages 15–20 who reported little filtered cigar or cigarillo (LCC) use or susceptibility to LCCs. Participants evaluated…
Examining Spontaneous Cognitive and Emotional Reactions to Messages About Very Low Nicotine Cigarettes (VLNCs)
s < .01). Two weeks after exposure, participants who expressed negative emotions (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.56, 4.26) were more likely to report having spoken with others about quitting smoking and people who expressed message acceptance were more likely to have made a quit attempt since exposure (OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.12, 3.27). Spontaneous cognitive and emotional reactions can indicate message effectiveness and predict behavior, suggesting they sho…
Tobacco package health warnings about product manipulations
The tobacco industry manipulates cigarettes to provide sensory cues that mislead people who smoke. We assessed the effectiveness of health warnings (HWs) focussed on the impact of misleading product attributes, including filter ventilation, menthol, and roll-your-own tobacco, which were called Product Attribute HWs. Australian adults who smoke (n = 2544) were randomly assigned to view: control medication warnings; new Standard HWs with smoking ha…
Discrete choice experiments
Experiments are widely used in communication research to help establish cause and effect, however, studies published in communication journals rarely use discrete choice experiments (DCEs). DCEs have become a mainstay in fields such as behavioral economics, medicine, and public policy, and can be used to enhance research on the effects of message attributes across a wide range of domains and modalities. DCEs are powerful for disentangling the inf…
Associations between interpersonal violence and cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use, and dual use among Mexican adolescent students
Objective: To assess associations between experienced violence and the use of combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and of both products ("dual use") among adolescent students from Mexico. Methods: Data comes from an online survey among 3,046 adolescents (12-19 years) conducted between September and December 2021. Students reported experiences of neglect, physical, psychological, and sexual violence perpetrated by household members, and digital v…
Better health and less stress
This elicitation study identified beliefs that can begin to inform the development of media campaigns focused increasing LCC cessation among YAs to promote health equity. Further research will examine the relationship between identified LCC beliefs and quitting intentions. This study provides insights into the beliefs and motivations about quitting among YAs who use LCCs, especially Black YAs. The identification of salient behavioral, normative, …
Association between the diagnosis of diet-related non-communicable diseases and the use of nutritional labeling among Mexican, Mexican American, and non-Mexican American adults
Diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are major global health concerns. Front-of-package warning labels (WLs) and nutrition facts labels (NFLs) aim to promote healthier food choices, yet their use among individuals with NCDs and across populations remains underexplored. This study uniquely compares two labeling systems (WL and NFL) and examines the association between NCD diagnosis and label use among Mexican, Mexican American, and non-Me…
Joint impact of cigarette taxes and smoke-free laws on youth cigarette smoking and related disparities in the USA
We found some evidence that taxes and smoke-free laws may work jointly to reduce cigarette smoking in certain youth populations. Policymakers should consider the complex tobacco control landscape and its effects on subpopulations when introducing laws
Awareness of and support for banning e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products among Mexicans who smoke
Objective. This study investigates awareness of and support for Mexico’s bans on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products among adults who smoke. Methods. Data were analyzed from a 2020 survey of adult Mexicans who exclusively smoked cigarettes ( n = 1 324) or smoked cigarettes and used e-cigarettes ( n = 654). Weighted multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models estimated crude and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for awareness of and support…
Municipal socioeconomic environment and recreational cannabis use in Mexico
“The ban is there, but it is not there”
Introduction: Banning the sales of loose cigarettes is recommended by Article 16 of the World Health Organization - Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This study aims to understand the perceptions of cigarette users and tobacco vendors regarding such a ban. Methods: = 28) from two Indian cities where sales of loose cigarettes were banned (Mumbai) or not banned (Delhi). Separate semi-structured interview guides were used for users and vendor…
Recruitment Methods, Inclusion, and Successful Participation in a Longitudinal Clinical Trial Using Ecological Momentary Assessment
Underrepresentation of historically marginalized populations in clinical trials continues to threaten the validity of health intervention research. Evidence supports the merits of intercept and other proactive forms of recruitment for achieving more equitable representation. However, researchers also report lower retention and adherence to protocols among these populations, particularly in longitudinal studies. Few studies have compared recruitme…
Changes in substance use among adolescents before and during the Covid-19 pandemic in Guatemala
Among Guatemalan adolescents, COVID-19 restrictions were associated with a significant decrease in smoking, e-cigarette use, and binge drinking
Message development for a communication campaign to support health warning labels on cigars
For communication campaigns to support graphic HWLs for LCCs, messages perceived as credible, relatable, and messages that convey new information are more likely to be received positively and may increase campaign effectiveness
To use or not to use electronic cigarettes? Reasons for use, stopping use and their behavioural sequelae among Mexicans who smoke
Specific reasons for using and stopping e-cigarettes predict changes in smoking and e-cigarette use, and targeting these beliefs could promote desired behaviour changes
Independent and combined effects of very low nicotine cigarette messages and e-cigarette messages
NCT05506046
Nicotine beliefs and perceptions of low nicotine labels and mitigating statements among people who do and do not smoke
Misunderstanding of VLNCs as less harmful than regular cigarettes is widespread; VLN messages may reinforce this misperception, which mitigating statements did not correct among people who smoke. As an alternative to VLN messages, policy makers could consider introducing VLNCs on a specified date and developing public information campaigns; these measures would avoid phase-in confusion and obviate the need for VLN messaging
Pre-post implementation policy support for warnings on cigarette filters in Canada among adults who smoke cigarettes
Just as increased support has been found for a range of tobacco control policies post-implementation, we found increased support for warnings on cigarettes during the transition period. However, support for this policy among people who smoke remains low. Other countries considering implementing this policy may consider these findings
Visibility and availability of single cigarettes around schools in four Latin American countries
The findings indicate widespread availability of single cigarettes in four Latin American countries where their sale is banned. The low price of single cigarettes, and their proximity to candy/toys, may increase the appeal of smoking to youth. Stricter enforcement of bans on single cigarettes, which may serve as a gateway to experimentation and continued smoking, is needed
Iluma-nating
First paragraph: IQOS, the Philip Morris International (PMI) flagship heated tobacco product (HTP), is now available in 82 countries. According to PMI’s 2023 fourth-quarter results, IQOS has overtaken Marlboro on net revenues. Scant research is available on youth’s HTP perceptions, including in Guatemala. Among adolescents aged 16–19 years in England, Canada and the USA, susceptibility to trying IQOS has been found to be higher than for cigarette…
Prevalence and correlates of e-cigarette source and use of e-cigarettes with nicotine
Televised Anti-Tobacco Media and Smoking Outcomes Among Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Adults in the United States
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of smoking is higher among sexual minority (SM) individuals compared with heterosexuals. The impact of televised anti-tobacco mass media campaigns on smoking outcomes among SMs is not known. AIMS: We examined whether televised anti-tobacco advertising was differentially associated with current smoking and smoking intensity for SM and heterosexual adults. METHOD: We combined county-level anti-tobacco advertising data (gr…
I Crave a Blunt, I Don’t Crave a Cigarillo”
While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s proposal to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes is gaining traction, it is still undetermined whether the policy will also include other combustible tobacco products, such as little cigars and cigarillos (LCCs), and how such a policy should be communicated given the patterns of use and perceptions around LCCs. This study examined perceptions of nicotine and addiction related to LCC use and i…
Preliminary Evidence of the Association between Time on Buprenorphine and Cognitive Performance among Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder Maintained on Buprenorphine
People on buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT) commonly present cognitive deficits that have been associated with illicit drug use and dropout from buprenorphine treatment. This study has compared cognitive responses to the Stroop Task and the Continuous Performance Task (CPT) among individuals on BMT, with recent drug use, and healthy controls and explored the associations between cognitive responses and drug use, craving, and buprenorphine…
Path analysis of warning label effects on negative emotions and quit attempts
Negative emotions elicited by warnings encourage behavior change, promoting attention to warnings and behavioral responses that positively predict quit attempts
Ethnic Discrimination and Smoking-Related Outcomes among Former and Current Arab Male Smokers in Israel
Using Cognitive Interviewing and Behavioral Coding to Determine Measurement Equivalence across Linguistic and Cultural Groups
This study examined and compared results from two questionnaire pretesting methods (i.e., behavioral coding and cognitive interviewing [CI]) to assess systematic measurement bias in survey questions for adult smokers across six countries (United States, Australia, Uruguay, Mexico, Malaysia, and Thailand). Protocol development and translation involved multiple bilingual partners in each linguistic/cultural group. The study was conducted with conve…
Conhecimento e uso de cigarros eletrônicos e percepção de risco no Brasil
Devido às incertezas sobre o impacto dos cigarros eletrônicos na saúde, o Brasil adotou, em 2009, regulamentação que proibiu venda, importação e propaganda desses produtos até que fabricantes possam demonstrar que são seguros e/ou efetivos na cessação de fumar. O objetivo do estudo foi analisar entre fumantes brasileiros: (1) conhecimento sobre existência de cigarros eletrônicos, uso na vida, e uso recente; (2) percepção de risco sobre cigarros e…
Interpersonal communication about pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages
This study evaluated the relationship between interpersonal communication about cigarette health warning labels (HWLs), psychological responses to HWLs, and smoking cessation attempts. Data were analyzed from online consumer panels of adult smokers in Australia, Canada and Mexico, during implementation of new pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packs. Approximately 1000 adult smokers were surveyed in each country every four months…
Evaluation of a Social Marketing Campaign to Support Mexico City's Comprehensive Smoke-Free Law
Objectives. We aimed to assess the level of awareness and impact of a social marketing campaign to promote Mexico City's 2008 comprehensive smoke-free law. Methods. Four months after the smoke-free law was implemented but before the campaign launch, we collected data from a population-based, random sample of 961 inhabitants of Mexico City. We analyzed data from 786 respondents who completed follow-up at the end of the campaign to determine campai…
Policy Support, Norms, and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Before and After Implementation of a Comprehensive Smoke-Free Law in Mexico City
Objectives. We assessed attitudes and beliefs about smoke-free laws, compliance, and secondhand smoke exposure before and after implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free law in Mexico City. Methods. Trends and odds of change in attitudes and beliefs were analyzed across 3 representative surveys of Mexico City inhabitants: before implementation of the policy (n = 800), 4 months after implementation (n = 961), and 8 months after implementation (…
Perceived justice and popular support for public health laws
Mistrusting Companies, Mistrusting the Tobacco Industry
Campaigns to prevent adolescent smoking increasingly depict the tobacco industry as deceitful and exploitative. This study was undertaken to determine how adolescents' expectations about the trustworthiness of companies, in general, influence the pathway through which anti-tobacco industry campaigns prevent smoking. Structural equation modeling was used with survey data from 6,670 adolescents, ages 12 to 17. In the first model, statistically sign…
Awareness, use and understanding of nutrition labels among adults from five countries
Sexual Scripts in Contemporary Mexican Cinema
Does neighborhood social cohesion modify the relationship between neighborhood social norms and smoking behaviors in Mexico
The Influence of Item Characteristics on Acquiescence among Latino Survey Respondents
Acquiescence is often defined as the systematic selection of agreeable ("strongly agree") or affirmative ("yes") responses to survey items, regardless of item content or directionality. This definition implies that acquiescence is immune to item characteristics; however, the influence of item characteristics on acquiescence remains largely unexplored. We examined the influence of eight item characteristics on acquiescence in a telephone survey of…
Remote Acculturation and Cigarette Smoking Susceptibility Among Youth in Mexico
Many adolescents in majority world countries emulate U.S. American culture, which can influence their development. Globalization allows adolescents from majority world countries to learn about U.S. American culture through mass media and the exchange of information via the Internet and other forms of communication. As such, youth in Mexico may experience remote acculturation, which can influence their smoking behaviors. We developed and tested a …
The impact of neighbourhood violence and social cohesion on smoking behaviours among a cohort of smokers in Mexico
BACKGROUND: Recent increases in violent crime may impact a variety of health outcomes in Mexico. We examined relationships between neighbourhood-level violence and smoking behaviours in a cohort of Mexican smokers from 2011 to 2012, and whether neighbourhood-level social cohesion modified these relationships. METHODS: Data were analysed from adult smokers and recent ex-smokers who participated in waves 5 and 6 of the International Tobacco Control…
The impact of anti-tobacco industry prevention messages in tobacco producing regions
Adolescents who live in tobacco producing regions appear to be as responsive to anti-industry ads as their counterparts in non-tobacco producing regions. This study provides further evidence for the effectiveness of such ads
Intra-familial physical violence among Mexican and Egyptian youth
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of experiencing intra-familial violence among Mexican and Egyptian youth and to describe its associated risk factors. METHODS: Data from questionnaires applied to 12,862 Mexican and 5,662 Egyptian youth, aged 10 to 19, who attended public schools were analyzed. Biviarate and logistic regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between socio-demographics, the experience of intra-familial viole…
Tobacco Denormalization and Industry Beliefs Among Smokers from Four Countries
Mistrusting Companies, Mistrusting the Tobacco Industry
Campaigns to prevent adolescent smoking increasingly depict the tobacco industry as deceitful and exploitative. This study was undertaken to determine how adolescents' expectations about the trustworthiness of companies, in general, influence the pathway through which anti-tobacco industry campaigns prevent smoking. Structural equation modeling was used with survey data from 6,670 adolescents, ages 12 to 17. In the first model, statistically sign…
Impact of graphic and text warnings on cigarette packs
Australia's new health warnings increased reactions that are prospectively predictive of cessation activity. Warning size increases warning effectiveness and graphic warnings may be superior to text-based warnings. While there is partial wear-out in the initial impact associated with all warnings, stronger warnings tend to sustain their effects for longer. These findings support arguments for governments to exceed minimum FCTC requirements on war…
Does the availability of single cigarettes promote or inhibit cigarette consumption? Perceptions, prevalence and correlates of single cigarette use among adult Mexican smokers
Study results suggest that some adult Mexican smokers purchase single cigarettes as a method to limit, cut down on and even quit smoking. Nevertheless, promotion of the availability of single cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy could provide additional smoking cues that undermine quit attempts and promote youth smoking
Malaysian and Thai smokers' beliefs about the harmfulness of ‘light’ and menthol cigarettes
The experience of smoother smoke is likely to produce some level of belief in reduced harm, regardless of how brands are labelled and whether or not Federal Trade Commission FTC/International Organisation for Standardisation tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide yield figures are used
Self-reported price of cigarettes, consumption and compensatory behaviours in a cohort of Mexican smokers before and after a cigarette tax increase
Results suggest that the 2007 tax increase was passed on to consumers, whose consumption generally declined. Since no other tobacco control policies or programmes were implemented during the period analysed, the tax increase appears likely to have decreased consumption
The alchemy of Marlboro
In fulfilling its obligations under Article 11 of the FCTC treaty, Mexico has passed federal regulations and joined a growing list of over 50 countries that have prohibited ‘light’ and ‘mild’ brand descriptors on cigarette packaging. Starting in September, the regulations will also require pictorial warning labels on the upper 30% of the cigarette package and text-only warnings on 100% of both one side and the back of the package. This legislatio…
Policy Support, Norms, and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Before and After Implementation of a Comprehensive Smoke-Free Law in Mexico City
Objectives. We assessed attitudes and beliefs about smoke-free laws, compliance, and secondhand smoke exposure before and after implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free law in Mexico City. Methods. Trends and odds of change in attitudes and beliefs were analyzed across 3 representative surveys of Mexico City inhabitants: before implementation of the policy (n = 800), 4 months after implementation (n = 961), and 8 months after implementation (…
Perceived justice and popular support for public health laws
Consumption of single cigarettes and quitting behavior
These results suggest that the relationship between singles consumption and quit behavior is complex, with no clear evidence that singles either promote or inhibit downstream quit behavior
Support for removal of point-of-purchase tobacco advertising and displays
This study serves as a timely reminder that the implementation of tobacco control measures, such as the removal of tobacco displays, appear to sustain support among smokers, those most likely to oppose such measures
Evaluation of a Social Marketing Campaign to Support Mexico City's Comprehensive Smoke-Free Law
Objectives. We aimed to assess the level of awareness and impact of a social marketing campaign to promote Mexico City's 2008 comprehensive smoke-free law. Methods. Four months after the smoke-free law was implemented but before the campaign launch, we collected data from a population-based, random sample of 961 inhabitants of Mexico City. We analyzed data from 786 respondents who completed follow-up at the end of the campaign to determine campai…
Using Cognitive Interviewing and Behavioral Coding to Determine Measurement Equivalence across Linguistic and Cultural Groups
This study examined and compared results from two questionnaire pretesting methods (i.e., behavioral coding and cognitive interviewing [CI]) to assess systematic measurement bias in survey questions for adult smokers across six countries (United States, Australia, Uruguay, Mexico, Malaysia, and Thailand). Protocol development and translation involved multiple bilingual partners in each linguistic/cultural group. The study was conducted with conve…
Incidence and correlates of receiving cigarettes as gifts and selecting preferred brand because it was gifted
The 3.5% incidence of one's most recent cigarette acquisition due to gifting is consistent with prevalence estimates based on longer reference periods and translates into the average smoker receiving a gift of cigarettes approximately five times a year. Gifting also appears to have a significant influence on brand preference. Tobacco control interventions in China may need to denormalize the practice of giving cigarettes as gifts in order to decr…
The potential impact of plain packaging of cigarette products among Brazilian young women
Plain packaging and removal of descriptors may reduce the appeal of smoking for youth and young adults, and consequently reduce smoking susceptibility. Overall, the findings provide support for plain packaging regulations, such as those in Australia
Linking mass media campaigns to pictorial warning labels on cigarette packages
Consistent with other studies, adult smokers' exposure to new pictorial HWLs in Mexico was associated with psychosocial and behavioural responses related to quit behaviour. Exposure to the complementary media campaign was associated with independent additive effects on campaign-related knowledge, and it enhanced psychosocial responses to pictorial HWLs
Cigarette prices, cigarette expenditure and smoking-induced deprivation
Tax increases in Mexico have resulted in smokers paying more and spending more for their cigarettes. Those with higher cigarette expenditure experience more SID, with no evidence that poorer smokers are more affected
Cigarette packet warning labels can prevent relapse
This study provides the first longitudinal evidence that health warnings can help ex-smokers stay quit. Once the authors control for greater exposure to cigarettes, which is understandably predictive of relapse, WL effects are positive. However, it may be that ex-smokers need to actively use the health consequences that WLs highlight to remind them of their reasons for quitting, rather than it being something that happens automatically. Ex-smoker…
Video games and the next tobacco frontier
Video games provide rich, interactive environments suitable for tobacco promotion.1 2 The WHO-Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) recommends comprehensive bans on ‘... all forms of commercial communication...with the aim, effect or likely effect of promoting a tobacco product or tobacco use .’ WHO-FCTC implementation guidelines cover entertainment media,3 4 yet surprisingly little is known about the importance of video games for p…
Tracking Beverage Nutrition Information in the News
News media are a primary source of nutrition information for the general public. Beverages are a key product category implicated in the obesity epidemic, but it is unclear how recommendations for healthy beverage consumption patterns are communicated by the news media. This study evaluated the health content of beverage-related news reports on national television newscasts from 2000 to 2008. News reports were coded to assess topic, source attribu…
Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status, smoking cessation services provided by the health system and smoking cessation behavior in Brazil
Increasing the effectiveness of smoking cessation policies requires greater consideration of the cultural and socioeconomic complexities of smoking. The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between socioeconomic status and "selected midpoints" linked to smoking cessation in Brazil. Data was collected from a representative sample of urban adult smokers as part of the ITC-Brazil Survey (2009, N = 1,215). After controlling for age and…
Images in Cigarette Warning Labels
Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States To reduce tobacco's impact on public health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given regulatory authority over tobacco products in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 The act's mandate to the FDA included selection of "color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking" to accompany nine different text messages…
Medicine (123 works) · Smoking Behavior and Cessation (116 works) · Environmental health (96 works) · Psychology (80 works) · Public health (63 works) · Demography (56 works) · Business (53 works) · Tobacco control (53 works) · Political science (49 works) · Advertising (48 works)