Response to health warnings on cigarette packs as a predictor of future smoking among current tobacco smokers

The United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires health warning labels on all cigarette packages as part of a campaign to reduce tobacco smoking. Prior research has revealed the mixed effectiveness of these health warning labels. The present study used nationally representative, longitudinal data from the Population Study of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study to assess whether reported reactions to health warning labels on cigarette packs predict smoking frequency and smoking cessation two years later. We hypothesized that individuals who reported strong reactions to health warnings at Wave 1 of the PATH Study would engage in less frequent smoking behavior and would be more likely to have completely quit cigarette smoking two years later (Wave 3), compared with individuals who did not report strong reactions. Multinomial and binary logistic regressions were used to estimate the associations between attitudes toward health warning labels and later smoking frequency and smoking cessation. Our hypotheses were partially supported; results indicated that several attitudes toward health warnings predict later smoking behaviors. These findings indicate general effectiveness of health warning labels and support the FDA's initiative to require more attention-grabbing health warning labels on cigarette packs.