PERCEIVED BELIEVABILITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS OF HEALTH WARNING LABELS ONCIGARETTE PACKS

This study investigated the extent to which adolescents believe the he alth warning labels on cigarette packs, and the relationship of curren t smoking status and gender to the believability ratings. Subjects wer e 691 students in grades 5 through 12. MANOVAs revealed that, smokers, both male and female, reported significantly less belief in the valid ity of 3 of the health warning labels than nonsmokers. These findings support prior investigations which indicate that adolescent smokers ar e less likely to accept the specific health risks associated with smok ing than nonsmokers. The results, however, also raise the question as to what value such health warning labels have as a deterrent to cigare tte smoking.