Smokeless tobacco expectancies among a sample of rural adolescents

Objective: To examine the role of expectancies in adolescent smokeless tobacco (ST) use. Methods: Self-report measures of students' ST expectancies, cigarette and ST use, and peer and family tobacco use were collected from a sample of 978 rural high school students. Results: Student expectancy beliefs significantly predicted ST use and intention to try ST in the next year. Student ex-pectancies about ST were influenced by gender, cigarette use, and peer tobacco use. Family-member tobacco use did not strongly affect expectancies. Conclusion: Expectancies play a meaningful role in students' current and future decisions whether to use ST.