Dissertation Defense Announcement

School of Public Health announces the Final Dissertation Defense of

Jayaprakash Kumar

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

June 17, 2019 at 10:00 AM in Robison hall- Room 217

Advisor: Kenneth D Ward

Exposure to health warning labels on waterpipe tobacco packages: An application of the modified extended parallel process model on quitting behavior from three waves of the PATH study

ABSTRACT: The prevalence of waterpipe (WP) smoking has increased steadily in the United States despite growing evidence of its serious health consequences and addictive potential. Although health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packages are effective in preventing initiation and cessation of smoking, the effect of HWLs on WP tobacco packages has seldom been studied. This study modified the extended parallel process model (EPPM) by adding motivation to susceptibility and severity as mediating constructs and examine if the model predicted effect of HWL exposure on quitting behavior. Data from the three waves of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, a nationally representative cohort of youth and adults, were utilized for this dissertation. Data of young adult WP smokers (age 18-34 years, N=1916) were analyzed using path analysis. Results showed that HWL exposure in Wave 1 did not increase intending to quit, attempting to quit, or completely quitting WP use at Wave 3. The study also did not find support for the mediation effect of perceived severity, perceived susceptibility or motivation. The lack of findings pertaining to these mediating constructs calls for additional research and perhaps a re-evaluation of these constructs. More research is needed to determine whether HWLs on tobacco packaging have a useful role in reducing waterpipe tobacco smoking.