Tobacco Magazine Advertising Impacts Longitudinal Changes in the Number of Tobacco Products Used by Young Adults.

Purpose: The present study examined the longitudinal associations between exposure to tobacco advertisements in magazines popular among young adults and changes in the number of tobacco products used by young adults.

Methods: Participants were 4,824 students from 24 Texas colleges participating in a longitudinal study. Tobacco advertisements in 11 magazines, collected from 2015 to 2017, were objectively assessed and young adults self-reported the frequency of reading each magazine on five biannual surveys from 2015 to 2017. The objective and self-reported measures were multiplied to create a tobacco advertisement exposure score. Growth curve models were used to determine if exposure to tobacco advertisements in magazines predicted changes in the number of tobacco products used across the 2-year period, controlling for sociodemographic factors, ever tobacco use, recall of tobacco advertisements on the internet, and personality characteristics.

Results: Young adults with more exposure to tobacco advertisements reported a slower decline in the number of tobacco products they used across time.

Conclusions: Tobacco advertising in magazines contributes to the continuation of single-product and polyproduct use among young adults. Findings highlight the need for additional federal regulations limiting advertisements for all types of tobacco products in magazines, particularly those popular among young adults, the youngest legal targets of the tobacco industry.