A recently published study examined the association between risk perceptions of youths’ personal and parental attitudes toward smoking cigarettes, cigars, and marijuana with current use of cigars, cigarillos or little cigars (CCLCs) or modified CCLCs (i.e., freaking or blunting). Researchers analyzed data from the 2013 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
- 23.5% of youth reported current use of CCLCs in some way; 11.0% reported current freaking and 18.5% reported current blunt use.
- CCLC users tended to be male and Black.
- Perceiving all smoking behaviors as risky, wrong, or wrong by parents reduced odds of youth using CCLCs.
- Blacks had increased odds of using CCLCs if they perceived smoking cigarettes as harmful, which was not found among other race/ethnicity categories.
- Having parents who believed that smoking CCLCs is wrong increased the odds of youth freaking or blunting among all CCLC users.
- Odds of blunting were greater for those who believed CCLCs were more risky among all CCLC users.
The findings suggest that CCLC users may think cigars are safer than cigarettes, and that modifiers may think their use is safer and more in line with their parents’ views than non-modified CCLCs.
Source: Trapl et al. (2018). Attitudes and Risk Perceptions Toward Smoking Among Adolescents Who Modify Cigar Products. Ethnicity & Disease, Jul 12, 28(3), 135-144.