Volume 32, Issue 4: August, 2005

Abstract

*Youth Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Alternative Tobacco Products: Cigars, Bidis, and Kreteks

Stephen Soldz, PhD, and Elizabeth Dorsey, MSW

Youth use of cigars, bidis, and kreteks has spread as youth cigarette use has declined. This study investigates young people’s attitudes toward and beliefs about these alternative tobacco products. The study used data from a convenience sample survey of 5,016 7th- through 12th-grade students in Massachusetts. The cigar attitudes receiving the highest endorsement levels were that cigars smell good and are something different to try, whereas the item receiving the lowest endorsement was that cigars give you a good buzz. The most endorsed bidi attitudes were that bidis look like joints and are something different to try. For kreteks, the most endorsed items were that kreteks smell good and are something different to try. Multivariate analyses found that reporting that these products tasted, smelled good, or were something different to try predicted use. Because the study was conducted with a convenience sample in one state, results do not necessarily generalize.