ImpacTeen History

 Highlights of ImpacTeen Research Findings, 1999-2007

1999 In its first published study, ImpacTeen found that young men were more likely than young women to cut back on smoking when cigarettes cost more. They conclude that multiple policies would be needed to reduce smoking among youth.1

2000

 It was already known that smoking restrictions at home and in public places reduced adult smoking. ImpacTeen reported that smoking bans in public reduced smoking among teens, but not as much as restrictions at home, even where a parent smoked. Smoking bans in schools had little effect unless strongly enforced.2

2001

 ImpacTeen reported that “even addictive behaviors are sensitive to changes in the price of substances being abused.”3
2002 ImpacTeen documented evidence that tobacco companies shifted advertising to point-of-purchase marketing after they were banned from using billboards under the Master Settlement Agreement.4
2003 ImpacTeen found that “higher cigarette prices, irrespective of the way they are measured, reduce probability of youth cigarette smoking.”5
2005 ImpacTeen published the first study to explore the potential impact of state-sponsored anti-tobacco media campaigns while controlling for other tobacco-related advertising and other tobacco control policies. The researchers found an association between state-sponsored anti-tobacco advertising and greater anti-tobacco sentiment and reduced smoking among youth.6
2006 Tobacco industry-sponsored prevention ads intended for parents may have harmful effects on older youth, lowering youth perceptions about the danger of smoking and increasing their likelihood of smoking, reported ImpacTeen.7
2007  ImpacTeen celebrated its tenth anniversary with publication of a supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine focusing on obesity among U.S. youth. Among their findings: The overwhelming majority of food-product advertisements seen on television by American children and adolescents are for products of poor nutritional content8,  and a statistically significant association was found between the availability of supermarkets and lower adolescent body mass index (BMI) and overweight status.9

For more on ImpacTeen research findings, visit www.impacteen.org.

References

1Chaloupka FJ, Pacula RL. Sex and race differences in young people's responsiveness to price and tobacco control policies. Tob Control. 1999 Winter;8(4):373-7.
 
2Wakefield MA, Chaloupka FJ, Kaufman NJ, Orleans CT, Barker DC, Ruel EE. Effect of restrictions on smoking at home, at school, and in public places on teenage smoking: cross sectional study. BMJ. 2000 Aug 5;321(7257):333-7.
 
3Pacula RL, Chaloupka FJ. The effects of macro-level interventions on addictive behavior. Subst Use Misuse. 2001 Dec;36(13):1901-22.
 
4Wakefield MA, Terry-McElrath YM, Chaloupka FJ, Barker DC, Slater SJ, Clark PI, Giovino GA. Tobacco industry marketing at point of purchase after the 1998 MSA billboard advertising ban. Am J Public Health. 2002 Jun;92(6):937-40.

5Ross H, Chaloupka FJ. The effect of cigarette prices on youth smoking. Health Econ. 2003 Mar;12(3):217-30.
 
6Emery S, Wakefield MA, Terry-McElrath Y, Saffer H, Szczypka G, O'Malley PM, Johnston LD, Chaloupka FJ, Flay B. Televised state-sponsored antitobacco advertising and youth smoking beliefs and behavior in the United States, 1999-2000. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005 Jul;159(7):639-45.

7Wakefield M, Terry-McElrath Y, Emery S, Saffer H, Chaloupka FJ, Szczypka G, Flay B, O'Malley PM, Johnston LD. Effect of televised, tobacco company-funded smoking prevention advertising on youth smoking-related beliefs, intentions, and behavior. Am J Public Health. 2006 Dec;96(12):2154-60.
 
8Powell LM, Szczypka G, Chaloupka FJ. Adolescent exposure to food advertising on television. Am J Prev Med. 2007 Oct;33(4 Suppl):S251-6.

9Powell LM, Chaloupka FJ, Bao Y. The availability of fast-food and full-service restaurants in the United States: associations with neighborhood characteristics. Am J Prev Med. 2007 Oct;33(4 Suppl):S240-5.