New NIH Award to Explore Impact of Flavored Cigarillos Among Young Adult Sexual and Gender Minority Females

The CFLASH team (Cigarillo Flavor and Abuse Liability, Attention, and Substitution in Youth) has been awarded $96,954 of supplemental funding from National Institute of Health (NIH) to explore the role of flavor with regard to appeal, purchasing and risk perceptions, and substitutability of cigarillo products specifically among young adult sexual and gender minority (SGM) females. The team is seeking to understand the characteristics associated with use that differ between SGM females and their heterosexual counterparts. This will be integral to informing policy that will decrease consumption of harmful tobacco products among the population most likely to use them.

 Sexual and gender minorities (SGM), deemed a priority population by Center for Tobacco Products, engage in more risky behaviors than their heterosexual counterparts, including tobacco use, putting them at higher risk for tobacco-related health problems. SGM females have far greater odds of using tobacco products compared to SGM males and heterosexuals. Decreasing the disparate effect of cigarillo use on SGM females will require knowledge of the perceptions of and product choices in different policy environments. The overall goal of this supplement is to examine and better understand young adult and adolescent perceptions, use intentions and purchasing behaviors among users of cigarillos by recruiting SGM females in order to make meaningful comparisons between SGM and heterosexual females. Evaluating the differences in appeal, perceptions, and abuse liability of flavored cigarillo products between SGM and heterosexual females using robust, sensitive, and valid methods that capture behavioral data will inform the tobacco control policies that may decrease the disparate effect of cigarillo use and health outcomes.

 The CFLASH project is led by principal investigators Dr. Erika Trapl (CWRU), Dr. Elizabeth Klein (Ohio State University) and Dr. Amanda Quisenberry (Rosewell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center). For additional information or questions, please contact Stephanie Pike Moore at snp39@case.edu.