Tobacco Susceptibility and Use Among Rural Adolescents: The Role of Tobacco Marketing Exposure and Screen Media Use

Screen media use, tobacco marketing/warning exposure, and their associations with tobacco use and susceptibility were examined in a study with 697 rural Virginia youth. Heavy social media/text users were more likely to have used tobacco products. Exposure to tobacco marketing on social media and higher grade levels were associated with ever using tobacco. Higher grade levels were linked to increased susceptibility to tobacco use among nonusers. These results highlight the importance of resilience to pro-tobacco marketing on social media, and self-regulation of social media/text use in interventions for tobacco ever users. Early interventions may benefit rural youth who never used tobacco.