Risk-minimizing belief: Its association with smoking and risk of harm from smoking in Northern Thailand

Abstract

© 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Risk-minimizing beliefs refer to the underestimation of the health risks of particular behaviors. The aim of the study was to investigate the associations between risk-minimizing belief with smoking and the risk of harms from smoking in Northern Thailand (N=3,865). Adjusting for potential confounders, risk-minimizing belief was inversely associated with lifelong abstinence, positively associated with increased risk of being a current smoker, and weakly associated with increased risk of harm from smoking. Targeting risk-minimizing beliefs in current smokers and those who have never smoked may be useful in the Northern Thai population.