Testing Different Anti-smoking Messages Among Chinese Young Adult Smokers and Nonsmokers

October 9, 2025 updated by: Di Pei, Georgia State University
Young adults are particularly vulnerable to psychological distress during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, making them more susceptible to developing persistent substance use. The tobacco industry capitalizes on this vulnerability by using marketing tactics to promote tobacco initiation and facilitate the progression from experimental tobacco use to long-term use. In China, where the average age of starting daily smoking is 21.1 years old, the number of current young adult smokers exceeds 29 million. It is crucial to develop effective communication messages to counter the tobacco industry's marketing strategies and protect the health of young adults in China. This project aims to test the effects of different anti-smoking message themes among Chinese young adults. In this online randomized clinical trial, participants will be randomly assigned to one of five antismoking message conditions. The investigators will compare the effects of these themes with each other and with the control condition.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

In this study, the investigators will examine the effectiveness of different anti-smoking themes in reducing intention to smoke among Chines young adults. The study will recruit 1500 adults aged 18-25 years old, including 750 current smokers and 750 non-smokers, evenly split between male and female.

The study will be conducted through a self-administered, web-assisted online survey software. Participants will be asked to consent to participate in this study via a consent form presented at the beginning of the survey. Consented participants will be randomized to one of six conditions (each represents a level of the independent variable: anti-smoking message theme): 1) Health effects 2) Tobacco industry manipulation 3) Mental health 4) Secondhand smoke 5) Social acceptability 6) Control messages with no cigarette-related content.

The study has two sessions. In session 1, participants will complete a 20-minute survey. The survey will begin with questions assessing demographic characteristics. Then participants will be shown intervention or control messages (watch three 30-second video in each condition), and beliefs and future intention to smoke cigarettes will be assessed.

Two weeks after session 1, participants will be asked to complete a 5-minute survey in session 2 of the study. The survey will measure participants' recall of the messages and smoking behaviors in the past two weeks after message exposure.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
1541

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Di Pei, Ph.D.
  • Phone Number: 517-505-1643
  • Email: dpei@gsu.edu

Study Locations

  • China
    • Shanghai Municipality
      • Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China, 200433
        • Online
  • United States
    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30303
        • Georgia State University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • • Aged between 18-25 years old

    • Current residency in China
    • Current smokers - having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and currently smoking every day or some days
    • Nonsmokers - having not smoked 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and do not currently smoke cigarettes
    • Can to read, speak, and understand Mandarin Chinese

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Other: Control
Participants will receive messages about bottled water which should have no impact on the outcomes of interest.
Behavioral: Control
Participants in this arm will watch 3 short videos about drinking bottled water during the survey data collection. These messages display specific water products and describe hydration as a healthy activity.
Experimental: Health effects
Participants will receive messages with information about smoking-related diseases.
Behavioral: Health effects
Participants in this arm will watch 3 short videos about the smoking-related diseases during the survey data collection.
Experimental: Tobacco industry manipulation
Participants will receive messages with information about how the tobacco industry uses targeted marketing and manipulative tactics aimed at youth and young adults.
Behavioral: Tobacco industry manipulation
Participants in this arm will watch 3 short videos about how the tobacco industry uses targeted marketing and manipulative tactics aimed at youth and young adults during the survey data collection.
Experimental: Secondhand smoke
Participants will receive messages with information about secondhand smoke exposure.
Behavioral: Secondhand smoke
Participants in this arm will watch 3 short videos about the risks of secondhand smoke exposure during the survey data collection.
Experimental: Mental Health
Participants will receive messages with information about the effects of smoking on mental health.
Behavioral: Mentral health
Participants in this arm will watch 3 short videos about the effects of smoking on mental health during the survey data collection.
Experimental: Social acceptability
Participants will receive messages that portray smoking as socially unacceptable in China.
Behavioral: Social acceptability
Participants in this arm will watch 3 short videos about how smoking is socially unacceptable in China during the survey data collection.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intention to use tobacco
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure

A five-item scale measuring future intentions to smoke cigarettes and other forms of tobacco over the next year.

Response options: from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (very likely).

Higher scores represent stronger intention to use tobacco.
Immediately after message exposure

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perceived harm of smoking
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure
Measured with a single item, assesses participant's perception of own risk of overall harm to health under conditions of smoking every day. Response options range from 1 (Not at all likely) to 5 (Extremely likely), with higher scores representing a better outcome.
Immediately after message exposure
Perceived Message Effectiveness
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure

A three-item scale measuring to what extent participants think the messages they saw discourage them from wanting to smoke, make smoking seem unpleasant, and make them concerned about health risks of smoking.

Response options: from 1 (Disagree) to 4 (Neither Disagree nor Agree) to 7 (Strongly Agree).

Higher scores represent a better outcome. The final perceived message effectiveness score is the mean of the response to the three items.
Immediately after message exposure
Quit intention
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure
Only measured among smokers. A two-item scale measuring to what extent participants are interested in quitting in the next 6 month. Response options are from 1 (Not at all likely) to 5 (Extremely likely), with higher scores representing a better outcome. The final quit intention score is the mean of the response to the two items.
Immediately after message exposure
Smoking behavior
Time Frame: Two weeks after message exposure
Single item measuring the average number of cigarettes smoked per day in the past two weeks.
Two weeks after message exposure
Intention to use tobacco in follow-up test
Time Frame: Two weeks after message exposure
A five-item scale measuring future intentions to smoke cigarettes and other forms of tobacco over the next year. Response options: from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (very likely). Higher scores represent stronger intention to use tobacco.
Two weeks after message exposure

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Georgia State University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 8, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 11, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 12, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 14, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 9, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • H24245

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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