Sarah Durkin
Biographic Data
| ID | 1739162 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah Durkin |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah |
| FAMILY NAME | Durkin |
| SIGNATURE | DURKIN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cancer Council Victoria |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2795-6454 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 50 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
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…
The Effect of Anti-Tobacco Ad Length and Skippability on Perceived Message Effectiveness and Emotional Responsiveness
The media landscape changes have resulted in significantly more people viewing content in shorter and skippable formats. There is limited evidence about the impact of these formats on anti-tobacco campaign effectiveness. This study examined the effect of anti-tobacco ad length and skippability on perceived message effectiveness (PME) and emotional responsiveness among people who smoke. Initially, 805 people who smoke were randomized to a message …
Quantifying differences in teenage vaping across countries
Testing public communications about tobacco product bans
Boosting awareness of the rationale for tobacco product bans may maximise quitting in response. This may be achieved for a menthol ban using messages describing the rationale, emphasising the remaining products' harmfulness and negative attributes and explicitly encouraging quitting (relative to merely describing the ban and rationale and encouraging quitting)
Australian adolescents’ knowledge of smoking harms and misperceptions about tobacco products
New GHWs and public communication campaigns could improve student knowledge of previously unpublicised smoking harms and counter pervasive misperceptions about tobacco products
Patients’ Attitudes Toward Hallucinogenic and Non-Hallucinogenic Psilocybin for Mental Health Treatment
This study examined patient perspectives on psilocybin therapy, specifically their acceptance and views on the therapeutic benefits of both hallucinogenic and non-hallucinogenic forms. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among psychiatric patients aged 18-65 at a community mental health center, assessing their attitudes, knowledge, and acceptance of psilocybin therapy. In total, 62.4% of the participants expressed openness to hallucinogenic ps…
Messages about climate, pollution and social justice harms of tobacco as motivators to quit
Findings suggest that value-based messaging featuring the environmental and social justice footprint of tobacco is perceived as motivating for smoking cessation, especially among younger people and those with higher education who may be more engaged with these issues. Inclusion of such messages as part of a comprehensive antitobacco communication strategy may provide an untapped opportunity by potentially providing people who smoke with additiona…
Impact of product-based e-cigarette marketing on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of young Australians
Findings indicate that the use of brand names and terms such as 'vapes' instead of 'e-cigarettes' results in more favourable attitudes towards e-cigarettes and susceptibility to use among young Australians. Results highlight the problematic influence of promotional language use favoured by industry
Association between single‐channel and cumulative exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking behaviours among Australian adolescents
You can’t just eat 16 teaspoons of sugar so why would you drink 16 teaspoons’ worth of sugar?”
Labels conveying the amount of sugar in a beverage in teaspoons were perceived as highly factual, relatable and interpretable, and as having the greatest potential to impact consumption attitudes and intentions. Further quantitative studies are required to compare the potential effectiveness of the teaspoons of sugar labels in reducing purchasing and consumption behaviour than other alternative warning labels, such as health effects or "high in" …
Public support for policies to phase out the retail sale of cigarettes in Australia
There has been little public discussion in Australia about the goal of 1 day phasing out the retail sale of cigarettes. It is notable that such policies are reasonably well supported by the Australian public, with only minority opposition
Australian Smokers’ Sensory Experiences and Beliefs Associated with Menthol and Non-Menthol Cigarettes
Many current smokers incorrectly believe that menthol cigarettes are less harmful, likely due to the biological and sensory effects of menthol, which can lead smokers to have favourable sensory experiences. In this study, we measured the extent to which Australian smokers associate certain sensory experiences with smoking menthol and non-menthol cigarettes, and their beliefs about how damaging and enjoyable they find cigarettes with each of these…
Thoughts on neologisms and pleonasm in scientific discourse and tobacco control
As public health reckons with the implications of language, word choice and their impacts,1–3 so too does Tobacco Control . Indeed, the editor-in-chief in 2010 pointed to the power of language in bounding discussions in the field.4 A common parlance or agreed on set of terms is important for moving science (and policy) forward—comparing like to like, allowing for replication, facilitating review and synthesis, and translating science into action.…
Intentions to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption
Objective: There are numerous health effects associated with excess sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. Interventions aimed at reducing population-level consumption require understanding of the relevant barriers and facilitators. This study aimed to identify the variables with the strongest relationship with intentions to reduce SSB consumption from a suite of variables derived from the literature. Design: Random-digit dialling of landlin…
Understanding the effectiveness of advertisements about the long-term harms of alcohol and low-risk drinking guidelines
Are anti-smoking social norms associated with tobacco control mass media campaigns, tax and policy changes? Findings from an Australian serial cross-sectional population study of smokers
Smokers' perceptions of family and friends' disapproval of their smoking was more common after exposure to fear-evoking tobacco control campaigns and after large tobacco tax increases were announced and implemented
Australian smokers’ experiences and perceptions of recessed and firm filter cigarettes
RFCs and FFCs undermine plain packaging legislation, which aims to reduce appeal and minimise misperceptions about the relative harms of different tobacco products. Like other filter modifications, these filter variants should be disallowed
Impact of three annual tobacco tax rises on tobacco sales in remote Australian Aboriginal community stores
For the first time, we demonstrated evidence of price-sensitivity and the immediate impact of price rises from tobacco tax rises on tobacco sales in remote Aboriginal communities. We acknowledge that Australia already has very high tobacco taxation and prices, but recommend further increases to the taxation of roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco to prevent smokers and industry using cheaper RYO cigarettes to undermine this impact of high tobacco taxes an…
Hardening or softening? An observational study of changes to the prevalence of hardening indicators in Victoria, Australia, 2001–2016
These results are inconsistent with the hardening hypothesis. Rather, they suggest that a comprehensive tobacco control programme that combines provision of cessation support to individual smokers with implementation of population-level interventions to drive all smokers towards quitting, can successfully reduce both smoking prevalence and levels of dependence and desire to keep smoking among the remaining population of smokers
Influence of premium vs masked cigarette brand names on the experienced taste of a cigarette after tobacco plain packaging in Australia
A premium brand variant name can enhance the subjective experience of a cigarette. Further, smokers' expectations of such brand variants contribute to the smoking experience as much, if not more than, the actual qualities of the product
Thank you to our reviewers
Alcohol harm reduction advertisements
Some message attributes have been employed more frequently than others, suggesting several promising avenues for future audience or population-based research to compare the relative effectiveness of different characteristics of alcohol harm reduction ads. Given most alcohol-attributable harm is due to long-term disease, these findings suggest future campaigns may fill a potentially important gap if they were to focus on long-term harms. There is …
Competing with big business
Dissemination of advocacy messages using inoculation or narrative components can help strengthen public resistance to subsequent anti-policy messages from industry groups
The effect of packaging, branding and labeling on the experience of unhealthy food and drink
Finding the keys to successful adult-targeted advertisements on obesity prevention
Findings provide preliminary evidence of the most promising content and executional styles of ads that could be pursued as part of obesity prevention campaigns. Ads emphasising the negative health consequences of excess weight appear to elicit stronger cognitive and emotional responses from adults with overweight/obesity. However, careful pre-testing of these types of ads is needed prior to their inclusion in actual campaigns to ensure they do no…
Impact of Tobacco Control Policies and Mass Media Campaigns on Monthly Adult Smoking Prevalence
Objectives. We sought to assess the impact of several tobacco control policies and televised antismoking advertising on adult smoking prevalence. Methods. We used a population survey in which smoking prevalence was measured each month from 1995 through 2006. Time-series analysis assessed the effect on smoking prevalence of televised antismoking advertising (with gross audience rating points [GRPs] per month), cigarette costliness, monthly sales o…
Effects of Different Types of Antismoking Ads on Reducing Disparities in Smoking Cessation Among Socioeconomic Subgroups
Objectives. We assessed which types of mass media messages might reduce disparities in smoking prevalence among disadvantaged population subgroups. Methods. We followed 1491 adult smokers over 24 months and related quitting status at follow-up to exposure to antismoking ads in the 2 years prior to the baseline assessment. Results. On average, smokers were exposed to more than 200 antismoking ads during the 2-year period, as estimated by televised…
Body Dissatisfaction, Dating, and Importance of Thinness to Attractiveness in Adolescent Girls
Antismoking television advertising and socioeconomic variations in calls to Quitline
Objective: To assess the socioeconomic variations in call rates to the Quitline (Victoria, Australia) and in the impact of anti-tobacco television advertising on call rates. Design: The outcome measure was the number of calls to the Quitline in Victoria for each week for each socioeconomic group for the period January 2001 to March 2004. Socioeconomic status (SES) was derived from the caller’s postcode using the Index of Socioeconomic Disadvantag…
Understanding the effectiveness of advertisements about the long-term harms of alcohol and low-risk drinking guidelines
Potential effectiveness of anti-smoking advertisement types in ten low and middle income countries
Changes in the news representation of smokers and tobacco-related media advocacy from 1995 to 2005 in Australia
BACKGROUND: This study aims to show how smokers were represented in smoking-related news articles, editorials, letters and columns in a major Australian newspaper over an 11-year period from January 1995 to December 2005. METHODS: Qualitative content analysis was conducted on a sample of 618 articles to identify 21 representational categories (RCs) of the smoker. Articles were also examined for statements that lent organisational support to eithe…
Body Dissatisfaction, Dating, and Importance of Thinness to Attractiveness in Adolescent Girls
Antismoking television advertising and socioeconomic variations in calls to Quitline
Objective: To assess the socioeconomic variations in call rates to the Quitline (Victoria, Australia) and in the impact of anti-tobacco television advertising on call rates. Design: The outcome measure was the number of calls to the Quitline in Victoria for each week for each socioeconomic group for the period January 2001 to March 2004. Socioeconomic status (SES) was derived from the caller’s postcode using the Index of Socioeconomic Disadvantag…
How does increasingly plainer cigarette packaging influence adult smokers’ perceptions about brand image? An experimental study
Plain packaging policies that remove most brand design elements are likely to be most successful in removing cigarette brand image associations
Impact of Tobacco Control Policies and Mass Media Campaigns on Monthly Adult Smoking Prevalence
Objectives. We sought to assess the impact of several tobacco control policies and televised antismoking advertising on adult smoking prevalence. Methods. We used a population survey in which smoking prevalence was measured each month from 1995 through 2006. Time-series analysis assessed the effect on smoking prevalence of televised antismoking advertising (with gross audience rating points [GRPs] per month), cigarette costliness, monthly sales o…
Secondhand smoke exposure (PM 2.5 ) in outdoor dining areas and its correlates
When individuals sit in outdoor dining venues where smokers are present it is possible that they will be exposed to substantial SHS levels. Significant increases in exposure were observed when monitors were located under overhead covers, and as the number of nearby smokers increased. The role of outdoor smoking restrictions in minimising exposure to SHS must be considered
Changes in the news representation of smokers and tobacco-related media advocacy from 1995 to 2005 in Australia
BACKGROUND: This study aims to show how smokers were represented in smoking-related news articles, editorials, letters and columns in a major Australian newspaper over an 11-year period from January 1995 to December 2005. METHODS: Qualitative content analysis was conducted on a sample of 618 articles to identify 21 representational categories (RCs) of the smoker. Articles were also examined for statements that lent organisational support to eithe…
Effects of Different Types of Antismoking Ads on Reducing Disparities in Smoking Cessation Among Socioeconomic Subgroups
Objectives. We assessed which types of mass media messages might reduce disparities in smoking prevalence among disadvantaged population subgroups. Methods. We followed 1491 adult smokers over 24 months and related quitting status at follow-up to exposure to antismoking ads in the 2 years prior to the baseline assessment. Results. On average, smokers were exposed to more than 200 antismoking ads during the 2-year period, as estimated by televised…
Comparative responses to radio and television anti-smoking advertisements to encourage smoking cessation
While mass media campaigns have been shown to contribute to reductions in smoking prevalence, little research has been undertaken on the effectiveness of radio advertising as a communication medium. This is despite radio being less expensive and having greater reach than television in some low and middle income countries. We aimed to explore the potential of radio as an adjunct or alternative to televised campaigns by comparing reactions to a rad…
Mass media campaigns designed to support new pictorial health warnings on cigarette packets
Television advertisements and pictorial health warnings on cigarette packets may operate in a complementary manner to positively influence awareness of the health consequences of smoking and motivation to quit. Jurisdictions implementing pictorial warnings should consider the benefits of supportive mass media campaigns to increase the depth, meaning and personal relevance of the warnings
Smokers' responses to television advertisements about the serious harms of tobacco use
Television ads that graphically communicate the serious harms of tobacco use are likely to be effective with smokers in low- to middle-income countries and can be readily translated and adapted for local use. Ads with complex medical terms or metaphors, or those that feature personal testimonials, are more variable and at least require more careful pre-testing and adaptation to maximise their potential
Still a burning issue
Tobacco control advocates expend considerable effort in generating newsstories on tobacco issues to assist progress in tobacco control, and the newscoverage itself may have important policy and behavioral influences. Yet,studies of trends in such news coverage are uncommon. Between 2001 and2006, we conducted a content analysis of tobacco-related newspaper articlesin the 12 major daily Australian newspapers and coded them for type ofarticle, topic…
Mass media campaigns to promote smoking cessation among adults
What is the role of tobacco control advertising intensity and duration in reducing adolescent smoking prevalence? Findings from 16 years of tobacco control mass media advertising in Australia
Both antismoking advertising intensity and duration are important for ensuring reductions in adolescent smoking prevalence
The silent salesman
Tobacco packs are frequently seen on table-tops in café strips, providing many opportunities for other patrons and passers-by to be incidentally exposed to cigarette brand names and imagery. Use of cigarette cases is rare, suggesting that smokers eventually habituate to pictorial warnings on branded packs and/or find repeated decanting of each newly purchased branded pack into a case to be inconvenient
Assessing the effectiveness of antismoking television advertisements
Audience ratings of PPE, but not ADPE, were found to predict subsequent intention and behaviour change. These findings increase confidence in the use of PE measures to pretest and evaluate antismoking television advertisements, particularly when these measures tap the extent to which a smoker has been personally affected by the message
Potential effectiveness of anti-smoking advertisement types in ten low and middle income countries
Finding the keys to successful adult-targeted advertisements on obesity prevention
Findings provide preliminary evidence of the most promising content and executional styles of ads that could be pursued as part of obesity prevention campaigns. Ads emphasising the negative health consequences of excess weight appear to elicit stronger cognitive and emotional responses from adults with overweight/obesity. However, careful pre-testing of these types of ads is needed prior to their inclusion in actual campaigns to ensure they do no…
Australian adult smokers’ responses to plain packaging with larger graphic health warnings 1 year after implementation
The specific objectives of plain packaging were achieved and generally sustained among adult smokers up to 12 months after implementation
Personal pack display and active smoking at outdoor café strips
This study demonstrated a sustained reduction in visibility of tobacco products and smoking in public, particularly in the presence of children, from pre-PP to 1 year post-PP. This effect is likely to reduce smoking-related social norms, thereby weakening an important influence on smoking uptake and better supporting quit attempts
Are quitting-related cognitions and behaviours predicted by proximal responses to plain packaging with larger health warnings? Findings from a national cohort study with Australian adult smokers
These findings provide an initial insight into the pathways through which PP with larger GHWs may lead to changes in smoking behaviour. Future research should examine whether the effects are conditional on individual demographic and smoking characteristics
Short-term changes in quitting-related cognitions and behaviours after the implementation of plain packaging with larger health warnings
These findings provide some of the strongest evidence to date that implementation of PP with larger GHWs was associated with increased rates of quitting cognitions, microindicators of concern and quit attempts among adult cigarette smokers
The effect of packaging, branding and labeling on the experience of unhealthy food and drink
Alcohol harm reduction advertisements
Some message attributes have been employed more frequently than others, suggesting several promising avenues for future audience or population-based research to compare the relative effectiveness of different characteristics of alcohol harm reduction ads. Given most alcohol-attributable harm is due to long-term disease, these findings suggest future campaigns may fill a potentially important gap if they were to focus on long-term harms. There is …
Competing with big business
Dissemination of advocacy messages using inoculation or narrative components can help strengthen public resistance to subsequent anti-policy messages from industry groups
Influence of premium vs masked cigarette brand names on the experienced taste of a cigarette after tobacco plain packaging in Australia
A premium brand variant name can enhance the subjective experience of a cigarette. Further, smokers' expectations of such brand variants contribute to the smoking experience as much, if not more than, the actual qualities of the product
Medicine (41 works) · Smoking Behavior and Cessation (32 works) · Environmental health (31 works) · Advertising (27 works) · Psychology (23 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (20 works) · Business (20 works) · Public health (19 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Tobacco control (12 works)