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 expectancies 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.