Abstract
Many adolescent smoking prevention programmes target social norms, typically evaluated with self-report, susceptible to social desirability bias. An alternative approach with little application in public health are experimental norms elicitation methods. Using the Mechanisms of Networks and Norms Influence on Smoking in Schools (MECHANISMS) study baseline data, from 12–13 year old school pupils (n = 1656) in Northern Ireland and Bogotá (Colombia), we compare two methods of measuring injunctive and descriptive smoking and vaping norms: (1) incentivized experiments, using monetary payments to elicit norms; (2) self-report scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) examined whether the methods measured the same construct. Paths from exposures (country, sex, personality) to social norms, and associations of norms with (self-reported and objectively measured) smoking behavior/intentions were inspected in another structural model. Second-order CFA showed that latent variables representing experimental and survey norms measurements were measuring the same underlying construct of anti-smoking/vaping norms (Comparative Fit Index = 0.958, Tucker Lewis Index = 0.951, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.030, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.034). Adding covariates into a structural model showed significant paths from country to norms (second-order anti-smoking/vaping norms latent variable: standardized factor loading [β] = 0.30, standard error [SE] = 0.09, p < 0.001), and associations of norms with self-reported anti-smoking behavior (β = 0.40, SE = 0.04, p < 0.001), self-reported anti-smoking intentions (β = 0.42, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001), and objectively measured smoking behavior (β = − 0.20, SE = 0.06, p = 0.001). This paper offers evidence for the construct validity of behavioral economic methods of eliciting adolescent smoking and vaping norms. These methods seem to index the same underlying phenomena as commonly-used self-report scales.
Highlights
Many adolescent smoking prevention programmes target social norms, typically evaluated with selfreport, susceptible to social desirability bias
multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) models were used to determine whether mean values on the overall first- and second-order latent constructs differed according to sex, personality characteristics (Need to Belong, Fear of Negative Evaluation, Pro-social Behavior, Big 5 personality subscales), and rule-following
The analysis indicates that the higher anti-smoking/vaping injunctive norms observed for Colombian pupils in their experimental responses were due entirely to differences in the items Part 2 Situation 2 and Part 2 Situation 5
Summary
Many adolescent smoking prevention programmes target social norms, typically evaluated with selfreport, susceptible to social desirability bias. This paper offers evidence for the construct validity of behavioral economic methods of eliciting adolescent smoking and vaping norms These methods seem to index the same underlying phenomena as commonly-used self-report scales. Survey-based measures of descriptive norms ask respondents how frequently others who are important to them smoke Such methods have the benefit of simplicity and clarity, but concerns about social desirability bias arise[15] because a respondent may perceive that researchers do not approve of smoking, and may not wish to reveal that a parent smokes or would not disapprove of smoking. The MECHANISMS study applies incentivized experimental approaches to reduce social desirability bias when measuring social norms for adolescent smoking and vaping by asking respondents to guess how peers would answer, and providing them with monetary incentives to ‘match’ their own response to the most common response in their school year group. The introduction of incentives to guess how most others are guessing, provides further reason to report beliefs truthfully
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