Opinion on tobacco tax increase: factors associated with individuals' support in Germany.

Objectives: To assess the opinion on tobacco tax increases in Germany.

Design: Ten wave cross-sectional study with assessments before and after the tax increases.

Setting: General population of Germany.

Smoking in contemporary German television programming.

Objective: To study the prevalence of smoking in German television in 2005.

Methods: Content analysis of all programmes of the four main national channels Das Erste, ZDF RTL and Pro7 over one week between 3 pm and 12 pm. A total of 395 programmes were analysed (252 h of programming).

Price increase causes fewer sales of factory-made cigarettes and higher sales of cheaper loose tobacco in Germany.

Aim of this study is the analysis of the price responsiveness of demand for cigarettes and loose tobacco in Germany over the period 1991--2006. In this period the average consumption of all kinds of cigarettes per capita (German population > or = 15 years) declined from 634 pieces/quarter to 457pieces/quarter (-28%). Consumption of factory-made cigarettes decreased from about 545 pieces/quarter to 330 pieces/quarter in 2006 (-39%).

Do school-based tobacco prevention programmes pay off? The cost-effectiveness of the 'Smoke-free Class Competition'.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of a school-based tobacco prevention programme.

Study Design: Using data from a previous effectiveness study of the 'Smoke-free Class Competition' (SFC), an economic analysis was conducted to determine the cost-effectiveness of the SFC. Cost data were collected from financial statements of the operating agency, surveys of regional co-ordinators and participating classes (direct and productivity costs).

Exposure to alcohol use in motion pictures and teen drinking in Germany.

Background: To assess whether movie alcohol exposure is associated with alcohol use during early adolescence.

Methods: We conducted a survey of adolescents (N = 5,581) from 27 schools in Germany. Each was asked if he/she had seen a list of 50 movie titles, randomly selected from a sample of 398 US box office hits released there.

Exposure to smoking in popular contemporary movies and youth smoking in Germany.

Background: Studies have linked exposure to movie smoking and smoking initiation among adolescents in the United States, but there has been only one published study of adolescents outside the U.S.

Method: A cross-sectional survey of 5586 schoolchildren aged 10-17 with a mean of 12.

Five in a row--reactions of smokers to tobacco tax increases: population-based cross-sectional studies in Germany 2001-2006.

Objective: To assess reactions of smokers to five waves of tobacco tax increases in Germany.

Design: A 10-wave cross-sectional study, with assessments before and after the tax increases.

Setting: General population of Germany.

Initial evaluation of a real-world self-help smoking cessation programme for adolescents and young adults.

There is a lack of effective smoking cessation programmes for young people, despite the urgent need for them. The present study reports the initial results of a real-world self-help cessation programme which also contained a "quit and win"-contest component designed for adolescents and young adults. Consecutive registrants (N=1265) were surveyed 11 to 23 months after they registered to the programme to assess continuous abstinence.

Effectiveness of the "Smoke-Free Class Competition" in delaying the onset of smoking in adolescence.

Background: This paper examines the effectiveness of the "Smoke-Free Class Competition" in delaying the onset of smoking in adolescence. Each participating class must decide if they want to be a "smoke-free class" for the 6-month period from fall to spring. Classes monitor their (non-)smoking behavior and report it to the teacher regularly.

Effects of modality shift and motor response shift on simple reaction time in schizophrenia patients.

The modality shift effect (MSE) shows that the reaction time (RT) of schizophrenia patients is longer when successive imperative stimuli are of different modality (e.g., light followed by sound) than when they are identical (e.

Is the modality-shift effect specific for schizophrenia patients?

Several studies have found that the reaction time of schizophrenia patients is longer when successive imperative stimuli are of different modality (e.g., light followed by sound) than when they are identical (e.